Bringing gravitas to the job

The elevation of Shri Atal Dulloo as the Chief Secretary is a welcome development. Quite a seasoned bureaucrat, Shri Dulloo's style, well know in the corridors of decision making, is conventional. Soft spoken, he will bring back a certain empathy to his role even as he will lend maturity and gravitas to the job.

In a situation where more often than not bureaucrats tend to be more political than anywhere else in the country - at least four former chief secretaries and secretaries were sitting in the previous upper houses - he will bring about a cultural change through his non bipartisanship. There is no gainsaying that he understands the issues and sensibilities of the Kashmiri society in an organic way, as he belongs to the place and the culture.

His merit, competence, and personal integrity, to head the civil service of J&K are beyond question. His capabilities and experience as a civil servant are expected to benefit not only the top ranks of the officials, but the grassroots level human resource in the governance structure. Beyond that, his being in the top slot can give a tinge of familiarity and ease when it comes to relations between the people of J&K and the governance structures.

J&K, as we all know is trying hard to match the performance of other leading states of India in matters of development and governance. At this critical moment Shri Atal Dulloo's coming can only add to the expectations of a forward movement in all the sectors of governance. Given all these expectations the man now in charge of things has a huge burden to shoulder, and one only wants him to succeed.

The team that he will be working with is capable of delivering, and together they can solve the problems of the people of J&K. JK has had chief secretaries of various hues and hefts. From the all powerful and pervasive Ashok Jaitley to the no-nonsense R K Takkar, to the quintessential and classic Sheikh Ghulam Rasool or to the indispensable B B Vyas and the gentleman S S Bloeria.

While drawing upon the best of his predecessors, we hope that he will be a role model for the aspiring civil servants. Welcome, Shri Atal Dulloo.