IAS, IPS officers who have inspired us in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic

Civil service officers, particularly those from the IAS and IPS has been crucial in India’s fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. They may not be visible in front but they are the brains and machinery behind effective policies and initiatives. They are the force – without whom – our politicians will have a mammoth task.

At most times, the civil servants do not get the credit they deserve. This write up is an effort to acknowledge and appreciate just some of the civil service officers who have contributed in fighting the world’s biggest concern right now.

Amitabh Kant, IAS
CEO, NITI Aayog

Amitabh Kant (IAS, 1980 batch, Kerala cadre) is currently CEO of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI). A key driver of many innovative national initiatives “Make in India”, Startup India and “Incredible India”, he has his task cut out to keep brand India intact and help the country fight the pandemic.

Mr. Kant leads the empowered committee to strategize on the effective response needed for India to contain the spread of COVID-19.

He started off by organizing a meeting with representatives from the private sector, NGOs and international organisations like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme.

Recently, Kant has written to over 92,000 NGOs appealing them to assist the government in identifying Covid-19 hotspots and delivering services to vulnerable groups.

Preeti Sudan, IAS
Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family welfare, GoI

A 1983 batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Sudan is usually seen leaving her office at Nirman Bhawan late at night.

A postgraduate in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics, Sudan also served the World Bank in Washington as a consultant.

Her ministry is the nodal agency for fighting the present coronavirus challenge. Sudan, along with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, coordinates with sister departments in the central and state government. The two conduct regular reviews of the evolving situation.

She is also involved in the regular review of preparedness with the states and union territories. Also, she is the first point of contact for any query arising from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office or from the office of Union Minister.

She is believed to have played a major role in the evacuation of the 645 Indian students from Wuhan, China.

Temjen Toy, IAS
Chief Secretary, Nagaland

The fact that Nagaland has contained the spread of the virus and has reported zero cases (as on 24 Apr. 2020) – much credit goes to the articulate chief secretary of Nagaland Temjen Toy .

Mr. Toy heads the State-level war room – set-up in his office where integrated information system is managed, analysed and decisions taken on prevention and management of Covid-19 in the state. The war room, on a daily basis coordinates with various stakeholders dealing with the fight against the pandemic.

From a COVID-19 online dashboard to a dedicated portal to help Nagas stranded in different cities, Toy has been instrumental in taking steps – not only fight the battle against the virus but ease burden of citizens of the state.

Abhishek Singh, IAS
President & CEO, MyGov & NeGD

IIT Kanpur alumni Abhishek Singh (Nagaland cadre IAS), currently President & CEO MyGov and NeGD – Govt. of India, is one of the main brains behind the Aarogya Setu mobile App. – which PM Modi asked citizens to download and install – and is currently one of the most downloaded App in Android and iOS platforms.

The App enables people to access for themselves risk of contracting COVID-19. It detects other devices with App installed that come in proximity with users phone. It also tracks users movements and informs in case of contact with positive case.

Mr. Singh’s effort has been to ensure every Indian with a smartphone downloads this App – which has been seen crucial in India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gautam Sawang, IPS
DGP, Andhra Pradesh

The IPS officer, originally from Arunachal Pradesh, has won the hearts of many by taking small and big steps alike to fight the pandemic in Andhra Pradesh.

The top cop recently reached a poor woman by video conference and thanked her– the lady had tried to help two policemen on duty by offering cold drinks.

The DGP has ensured efficient monitoring of lockdown. For example – With the help of their indigenously developed Covid Alerting Tracking System App, his department was able to book over 3,000 persons in 28 days for violating the lockdown.

Srijana Gummalla, IAS
Commissioner, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation

The chief of Visakhapatnam’s municipal body returned to her office in just about three weeks after giving birth to her son. The top officer says it is the call of duty as the country fights the coronavirus pandemic that motivated her to get back to work as soon as possible.

The 2013-batch IAS officer, who was seen in photos sitting in her office with the baby cradled in her arms, won her high praise on social media.

Women are entitled to six months of paid maternity leave as per the government rules.

Thavaseelan K, IAS
Deputy Commissioner, Mon, Nagaland

Life is not easy in this district – Mon – bordering Myanmar. And everything comes to a halt due to situations like a COVID-19 lockdown – a visionary and dedicated officer is required to guide the district administration. This is what young IAS officer Thavaseelan K has ensured.

He ensured Home Delivery of Water, Gas, Grocery & Medicines, door step banking services for citizens and efficient delivery of vegetables from farms to homes.

As the district borders Assam- which has reported nearly 40 cases – he decided not to take things easily. He initiated Active Case Search exercise to identify risky sections of the population and initiate strict quarantine measures.

Santosh Singh, IPS
Superintendent of Police, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh

The IPS officer has become an inspiration for his force to remain ‘self-isolated from family’ after spending whole day out on field to maintain law and order during the nation-wide lockdown due to pandemic.

Having no travel history or any symptom, Raigarh SP Santosh Singh-a 2011 batch officer chose to camp at a room outside his bungalow that he uses to rest and have food, since the lockdown has been announced.

A heart warming photo is taking rounds on social media of the SP waving at his two children and wife from a distance, before leaving for work. While working couples and parents spend quality time with family and children remaining indoors, cops like Singh can’t choose to have leisure time with his family even after the duty– “That’s for the welfare and safety of my family comprising of my wife, kids and in-laws.” Mr Singh says.

He meets a number of people on daily basis, make regualr visits to quarantine centers, camps and markets.

PB Nooh, IAS
Deputy Commissioner, Pathanamthitta, Kerala

Kerala has been in the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 mainly because of efficient officers like PB Nooh. Known to be an aggressive young man, facing adversities with a smile and having the capability to take quick decisions he is at the ground-zero of Kerala’s coronavirus crisis.

On March 8, some persons had evaded health screening at Kochi airport on their return from Italy. The state was immediately put on high alert, as the family had travelled to several places across Kerala.

Nooh opened a control room with some 50 young doctors and volunteers for the exercise, which technology helped a great deal. Soon after, Nooh helped devise a strategy with the help of the police to track a patient’s phone number and trace tower locations, before marking the places of visit on Google Maps to zero in on possible contacts. Within six days, all contacts were traced and at least 4,000 people, including 2,000 people who returned from foreign countries, were traced and home quarantined.

Tina Dabi, IAS
Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bhilwara, Rajasthan

Rajasthan’s Bhilwara could have become the corona epicentre for the country, had it not followed a stringent strategy, courtesy to IAS officer Tina Dabi and her pro-active team.

The district reported its first case on March 19 after which Rajendra Bhatt, the district collector, called for a shutdown on March 21, which was even before the government declared its nation-wide lockdown. The district has undertaken a ‘ruthless containment’ model, which translates to district isolation, aggressive screening in the city and rural parts, quarantine and isolation wards and rigorous village monitoring.

The 26-year-old IAS officer, Tina Dabi, who is Bhilwara’s sub-divisional magistrate, was responsible for the success of the lockdown implementation across the district, and she had managed to take more and more people in confidence. With her team, she came up with a scheme to ensure that people had their essentials. Once the shutdown took place, they started screening, first from the medical staff of the hospital and their families, to anyone they came in contact with and then the entire city.

To enforce the social distancing norms, they had community leaders named as ‘corona warriors’ in villages to ensure that proper distancing is taken care of everywhere.

From the 27 cases tested positive in Bhilwara, 25 have recovered, and 15 have been discharged. After achieving brilliant and effective results, Bhilwara’s model is now being looked at as an example by the entire nation in it’s fight against COVID19.