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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

FDA braces for Tukaram Mundhe’s strong dose

Mumbai: An unyielding and upright IAS officer Tukaram Haribhau Mundhe was awarded with his 25th transfer order in 21 years’ service – as the new Commissioner of Food & Drug Administration. The latest shunting comes barely a couple of months after his last assignment, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation, which was stayed before he could take charge. Mundhe, 50, holds the current ‘national record’ for being an IAS officer who has suffered maximum transfers;...

FDA braces for Tukaram Mundhe’s strong dose

Mumbai: An unyielding and upright IAS officer Tukaram Haribhau Mundhe was awarded with his 25th transfer order in 21 years’ service – as the new Commissioner of Food & Drug Administration. The latest shunting comes barely a couple of months after his last assignment, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation, which was stayed before he could take charge. Mundhe, 50, holds the current ‘national record’ for being an IAS officer who has suffered maximum transfers; prior to him were two retired Haryana IAS officers holding a similar honour. In an era when public confidence in institutions is wavering, examples of uncompromising and righteous officers like Mundhe shine bright and endear themselves to the masses. Humble Family Born into a humble farmer family of Beed, Mundhe’s childhood was bereft of luxuries and had to struggle even for bare necessities for which he disciplined himself, toiled and never faltered – strong qualities that help him stand ramrod straight even today. A bright kid, Mundhe helped his parents in the scorching fields during the day and spent hours at night poring over books under the dim light of kerosene lamps, completed his schooling with distinction, plus earned his graduate and post-graduate degrees from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad. With a burning desire to work for the welfare of the masses and society in general, Mundhe appeared for the UPSC exams and finally cleared his IAS in 2005 to enter public service. As he plunged himself headlong to wield the power of his position for public benefit, he quickly became a villain in the eyes of many vested elements, including politicians of different hues. No-nonsense Boss Mundhe proved to be an inflexible no-nonsense boss, abhorred indiscipline, a stickler for rules, curbed malpractices, public-centric result-oriented – making him the darling of the masses and in constant media glare. From his early years, he paid the price for his integrity, nature and working style. As per regulations, officers at certain levels are expected to serve for minimum three years in any post, but the much-feared Mundhe worked for barely a month in some of his postings, and hardly a few where he served for a year or more. Over the years, the people who watched Mundhe and the antics of his opponents, saluted him with many labels – ‘Singham’, ‘Youth Icon’, ‘Fearless Officer’, ‘Peoples Hero’, etc. Till May 26, in his 21-year long career, Mundhe has 25 transfer orders under his belt, ostensibly for refusing to bend rules or bending before the powers-that-be, irrespective of any political group or party in power. What most would consider a punishment transfer, Mundhe grabbed it headlong, not only challenging the system but infusing fresh challenges in the assignment, converting it into a ‘hot seat’, setting new standards which the next incumbent was forced to follow or fall out. For instance, after his appointment as Solapur Collector (November 2014), Mundhe cracked the whip on illegal mining operations and became a serious target of the powerful sand mafia there, but he was undeterred. In his 8-month long but eventful tenure as Nagpur Municipal Commissioner, Mundhe launched a transparency drive, overturned entrenched administrative practices that had evaded scrutiny, dared to question unsanctioned expenditures from the civic body’s coffers and many came under the radar. However, he was shunted to Mumbai in a fresh assignment before there were casualties. Lasting Impact Probably, the most striking aspect of Mundhe’s bureaucratic journey is that in every posting, he managed to leave a lasting impact and set new benchmarks. As in Solapur, he contributed to making at least 7 municipal bodies defecation-free in a tenure of barely 18 months (Nov. 2014-May 2016). A retired civil servant described Mundhe as “a champion of citizen-centric governance, ensured that the administration connected to the last man, treated his work not with authority but as a responsibility and worked not merely efficiently but empathy for the masses – who adored him”. Shattering traditions even at home In April 2026, while on election duty in West Bengal, Tukaram Mundhe learnt that his mother Asarabai breathed her last at 90 in Pune. He rushed back for the last rites held in his native village, Tadsona in Beed district. Breaking conventions, Mundhe and his brother skipped all the traditional rituals, and instead of immersing her residue in a holy river, they planted a Banyan sapling on her ashes as a dual tribute to her and the environment.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was 100% secular ruler, the ultimate ideal king: Nitin Gadkari

  • PTI
  • Apr 3, 2025
  • 3 min read


New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday described Shivaji Maharaj as an exemplary king, a benevolent ruler, and a "100 per cent secular figure." He said if there is an ultimate ideal, it is undoubtedly Shivaji Maharaj.

Speaking at the launch of the book "The Wild Warfront - Shivaji Maharaj: Volume 2" by Vishwas Patil, Gadkari, who claimed that he has only one photograph in his office – that of Shivaji Maharaj -- said the Chhatrapati holds a special place in the hearts of Indians and is even more significant to him than his own parents.


"Nowadays, the word 'secular' is very popular, but the meaning of the word 'secular' in the English dictionary is not religious neutrality. The meaning of the word secular is 'equal respect for all religions,' treating all religions with equal justice. This is the meaning of secular. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was a public welfare king in our country’s history who was 100 per cent secular.


"Particularly throughout his history, he won many battles and never attacked a mosque... He always showed respect for women, was a king devoted to the people, and was strict in administration," Gadkari said to a packed audience at Maharashtra Sadan.


To emphasise his point about Shivaji being a secular and just king, Gadkari referenced the Battle of Pratapgarh, which took place on November 10, 1659, between the Maratha forces led by Shivaji Maharaj and the Bijapur troops under General Afzal Khan.


The 67-year-old lauded how, after killing Khan, Maharaj ordered his army — which he mentioned included many Muslim soldiers — to bury Khan with full respect at the battlefield -- Pratapgarh Fort.


Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was also present at the launch, said he was happy that Gadkari discussed the secular aspect of Shivaji Maharaj, a quality that, he argued, is often underappreciated, even by the Maharaj's own admirers.


According to the Lok Sabha MP of Thiruvananthapuram, it was Shivaji, who after many of his conquests, gave strict instructions to his soldiers that "if they ever came across a Quran, they should pick it up, treat it with respect until they could find a Muslim to hand it over to."


He added, "Those were the kind of values that Shivaji had. We all know about Shivaji's chivalry towards women, the extraordinary grace with which he dealt with the people, and the fact that his army consisted of people from every caste. Literally, every caste, from Dalit to Brahmin, was with him — around him, amongst his courtiers, and amongst his soldiers. He had Muslim soldiers. There was absolutely no bigotry in Shivaji."


Commending the book, which is Nadeem Khan's English translation of Patil's historical Marathi novel "Rankhaindal", Gadkari expressed hope that people now in India — those outside Maharashtra — and in Western countries would see a just picture of the king, as the history written during the Mughal era and British rule was unfair to him.


"... There were many things that were unfair to him, some even called him a 'lootera' (a bandit). I can say with full confidence that Shivaji's personality was complete, it was exceptional. In our current governance system, how a king should be, how a king should act, he is an example of that," he said.


Tharoor, too, congratulated the author for bringing his skill of "novelisation of history" to best use and able to pull off two volumes on Shivaji in fictional form, who he admits is an extraordinarily interesting figure to read about in any Indian language.


He seconded Gadkari saying that Shivaji has indeed come through various renderings in the national imagination -- from demonisation during the Mughal era to being hailed as "original Hindu nationalist" by freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak.


"We have had demonisation of him (Shivaji), as Gadkari ji reminded us of 'lootera,' a bandit, which was propagated by the partisans of the Mughal side. Then, we had the veneration of him as the great anti-colonial resistance figure, and this notion of resistance.


"You had different interpretations even within Maharashtra. Jyotiba Phule's interpretation of Shivaji as the voice of the subaltern, as the voice of the underclass rising up, versus, say, the Bal Gangadhar Tilak version of the original Hindu nationalist, portraying Shivaji as the origin of Hindu nationalism," explained the 69-year-old Congress leader.


Touted by publishing house Westland Books as the dazzling second volume of Patil's "The Wild Warfront", the book reconstructs Shivaji Maharaj's life and battles through intensive research.


Patil, known for his novels like "Ranangan", "Chandramukhi", "Panipat", and "Sambhaji", has sold over 50,000 copies of the two volumes in Marathi -- "Jhanjhawat" (The Whirlwind) and "Rankhaindal" (The Wild Warfront).

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