Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Whodunit..!?!?!?

Transfers of government employees is considered as normal and a routine matter, but when transfer becomes a game of political Kho-Kho it certainly is a cause of concern. Especially when a sincere and hard working employee is being transferred before the end of his tenure raises lot of questions. 
Some very serious questions too.

Last time when such transfer took place it was understandable because there was an evident lapse in safety and security of human life and property and action needed to be taken. People who then suffered from 'Stockholm Syndrome' however did not agree but might now agree too, that the transfer of Surat Airport Director - Pramod Kumar Thakre is outright vindictive unjust and aimed to slow the growth rate of Surat Airport, which had made remarkable progress in the last 30 months.

Strangely, much before people could even recover from the shocking news and raise any doubts a clarification was already given from the political mouth pieces, stating that the transfer was "routine" and it was done on request of the APD himself, as he wished to stay closer to his native place for health reasons. 

How considerate..!! 


Washing their hands clean from any liability & responsibility, they said that due to this health reason they cannot hold back a man who has been responsible for the development of the Airport. 
How convenient..!!

For obvious reasons, the above statement to which the APD has refused comment or condemn it, keep many questions unanswered. 

The Incumbent:
The only good thing that happened after the buffalo hit; was getting a new man in to take charge of the 'cattle-shed' from the predecessor. It was so hard for many to get out of the poetic-charms of the then transferred APD and to accept the fact that the future of the Airport was doomed and uncertain of what lay out with the newly rushed in APD - Pramod Kumar Thakre


It certainly was a daunting task for Pramod Kumar to step in the dung that he was suddenly dumped into & yet assure himself and others that he will clean up the crap.

And clean up and more he did. The fact that lot of things happened under his leadership, which some how had failed to become reality during the tenure of his predecessor, just as the emails bounced off his email address.

The list of achievements is quite long and pretty commendable too, understandably all of this did not happen because he had a magic wand but certainly there were other factors that steered him and took action in favor of the city airport.

The bottom line however is that so much was achieved in these long painful 30 months that at the end of this day and if things go as per the plan, soon enough the Airport could be connected to direct international destinations. 

In short the airport is transformed from One destination only to International destination and the foot fall rising to nearly 5 times. A growth rate unachievable even by metro airports in such a short span.

The New Entrant:
The new APD - Dilip Sajnani is brought over from Rajkot and will be taking charge of Surat Airport in this overnight game of Kho-Kho.


Obvious to the uncertainty with the new entrant taking charge, same questions arise in the mind and fear mongers if the airport will continue with same rate of progress. More so the reasons that with this overnight shuffling serious doubts arises if the final stages of runway completion which has been waiting for "official approval" will get done as targeted by the hands of the new entrant.

Only time will tell if this transfer was a right move or not but we will come to know much sooner than later, if the remaining tasks are completed at the same pace and new tasks put into process keeping the complete expansion of the Airport, which includes acquiring of 800 hectares of land for a second runway and a second terminal building for Full fledged International Airport status. 


Lets keep our fingers crossed and possibly toes too.

The Conspiracy Theory:
It is hardly believable that a person who had been so deeply involved in the development of Surat Airport, would like to leave it at a stage when the fruits of hard work were showing to grow. Certainly not for a flimsy reason of "Health grounds". As hail-hearty & fit he seems, but even with a slightest possibility of any health issues, he certainly would be better off in a "Smart City" like Surat where he had just hosted the PM at his Airport, who was in the city (besides scoring political brownie points) to inaugurate one of the finest Super Specialty hospital in the country.



How rubbish is this reasoning that someone wants to go to Jabalpur when the best medical facility is available in the city of his current posting. In fact it should have been the other way round that Pramod Kumar would ask for extension of his posting instead, for availing the best medical facilities here. 


Now that would make sense and as a good Samaritan gesture for a deserving person like Pramod Kumar, people across the board would have been more than happy to have even provided the treatment at no cost.


Fair enough, if it was just a routine transfer, if the APD was even allowed to complete his term of 3 years. Justifiably enough he could have at least been kept for the next 3 months till he completed the tasks which are at the final stages and who better could be to bring those tasks to a logical happy ending, which he had been under supervision all these months.
No answers to this from the CRaP mouthpiece


There have always been rumors that the local representative had a personal 'beef' over the limelight being taken away by the APD, as most of the announcements towards the development and day to day progress of the airport were shared through the official handles of Social Media. As the incumbency threat looms large with coming elections and the pressures mounting due to inefficient handling of connectivity issue and 'stolen limelight', called for a drastic action. A large part of the section believes that this had been the root cause of this unceremonious  transfer of Pramod Kumar.

It however appears from the media reports that the current transfers have been triggered with several inconsistencies observed during the recent inspection. The major gaffe is that an entire isolation bay, used for emergency situation, had been made, gone unnoticed and remained unapproved for almost a decade. A valid reason but invalid action taken just on the Airport Team and keeping the other senior officials free from accountability.


Upfront, a segment of business community while awarding citation with a free shawl for exemplary performance, but behind the back are being party to this injustice and are labeling this being a "Routine Transfer". They do not realize that transferring a large section of the current team at Surat Airport for errors and omissions of the predecessor and the earlier inspection team, cannot be construed as just and routine.

But then what do you expect from the babus who are at the mercy of the Boss-Man. 

We are unknown to the real reason and probably shall never know the ultimate truth but it is not a coincidence that during his blitz visit, the  Boss-Man has made it aptly clear to the GoG that Surat is a self made "Resilient-City" while all focus needs to be towards Dholera, which needs intensive-care due due to the oncoming elections.

At the end of the day it is aptly clear that instead of taking CBMs - Confidence Building Measures, PMO, MOCA AAI has done just the opposite. An abashed action resulting out of the Grand Welcome accorded to the PM going to their heads. Instead of putting the Airport on global map there is a consecrated effort to strangulate the growth of the Airport.


Ironically 30 months later, a HIT takes place again at Surat Airport; Not by a Buffalo this time but instead by a BULL(y).

Some herd mentality that is.

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