In a one of a kind protest against the government, people in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh have hit the streets against a decision to transfer district collector Abhishek Singh to Bhopal. According to a report in Patrika, the protesters are demanding that the government annul the transfer order and send Abhishek back to Sidhi.
Locals have been protesting outside the Collector’s office for the past few days against Abhishek’s transfer. According to the protesting locals, Abhishek is the officer who brought development to the district in real terms but was transferred to Bhopal under pressure. They feel that the officer was transferred at the behest of local politicians.
Abhishek Singh, a 2009 batch IAS officer, was transferred to Bhopal recently and promoted to deputy secretary rank at the Secretariat.
People say that they were impressed by Abhishek Singh’s style of work and the way he dealt with their grievances. He earned fame for quickly responding to the problems of the public and finding a solution in a convenient way.
In July, when the Sidhi government hospital got overcrowded as more than 500 anemic kids arrived for blood tests, Abhishek Singh took more than 70 kids to his official residence. The kids stayed at his house and were provided treatment there.
In another incident that had grabbed attention, when Abhishek had visited a hospital for an inspection, he found the premises unhygienic for patients and initiated a drive to clean the hospital. He himself participated in the drive and even ordered to file a complaint to deduct salary of the civil surgeon for not making arrangements to decompose the biomedical waste.
Abhishek was transferred to Sidhi in December last year. Prior to this, he was CEO, Milk Federation and Animal Husbandry, Bhopal.
After the Kamal Nath government took charge in December 2018 following the Congress’ return to power, the government transferred bureaucrats. It was in this reshuffle that Abhishek was sent to Sidhi as a Collector.