CM honours Abhijit Bangar with Public Service Excellence Award

Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, honoured Abhijit Bangar, Municipal Commissioner, Nagpur, with Arun Bongirwar Public Service Excellence Award in a ceremony held in Mumbai on Saturday. Apart from Bangar, other administrative officers honoured with the award included Dr Abhinav Deshmukh, Ashwini Sonavane, N Vasudevan, and Jitendra Ramgaokar. Bangar was chosen for the award in the category of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), for innovative application of solar energy for increasing the crop intensity for tribal farmers during his tenure as District Collector of Palghar. Dr Abhinav Deshmukh is former Superintendent of Police, Gadchiroli, during whose tenure 40 Maoists were killed in the country’s biggest encounter.

Ashwini Sonawane is the first woman officer of Education Department who sought posting in Gadchiroli. Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that proper and efficient use of resources and creativity was needed for effective administration. “When one gets more powerful, one needs to be modest and humble in behaviour,” he said. According to him, a good officer must be public-oriented and have direct connect with citizens.

While doing so, one has to be extremely positive, he added. For, he said, one can solve 90 per cent of the problems only with a positive attitude and approach. Bringing change in the lives of people is the biggest opportunity and this is the biggest reward for any public servant, said Fadnavis. Sudhir Mungantiwar, Forest and Finance and Planning Minister; Ajoy Mehta, Chief Secretary; Deepak Parekh, Girish Kuber, Sangita Jindal, Lata Bongirwar, and other dignitaries also were present on the dais on this occasion.