Bengaluru: In a move that threatens to derail the Siddaramaiah government’s attempts to put the garbage and pothole ridden Bengaluru that suffers from traffic gridlock and perennial power shortages back on track, the state government has in a surprise move, shunted out Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike commissioner, G. Kumar Naik on Thursday and brought in 1994-batch IAS officer N. Manjunath Prasad as the new Commissioner of BBMP.
Putting his transfer down to ‘unseen hands’, Mr Naik, a Bengaluru native was keen to stay on until his new initiatives yielded results. His transfer, comes on the heels of the shunting out of another upright officer, T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar from the BWSSB, last week.
Mr. Naik, who assumed office exactly a year ago on April 20 made efforts to generate more revenue and get the green city tag for Bengaluru with efficient monitoring of solid waste management.
Insiders said Mr Naik, and his political bosses differed on a number of issues, with the latest falling out arising over awarding '1,000 crore worth projects in the city. Mr Naik who reportedly plays by the rule book which was not liked by the political bosses, therefore, he was shunted out, sources said.
Mr Naik was brought in when the corporation was under administrator's rule.
Mr Naik took several new initiatives to streamline the administration.
Sources in the BBMP said Mr Naik was brought in for specific purpose.
"When the BBMP started getting funds now, the government perhaps thought Mr Naik is not suited to handle the administration," sources said.
The CM's office and city Congress MLAs said it was Mr Naik who had sought for a transfer. However, sources in the BBMP said that Mr Naik was keen on staying on until he saw all his projects came through.
With the transfer of Mr. Naik, it has once again proved that Mr Siddaramaiah succumbed to the lobby of the corporators, City MLAs and civil contractors, who always fighting for their supremacy in the civic body administration.
The 1990 batch IAS officer, Mr. Naik hailed from Bengaluru and knew the city problem very well. Mr. Naik has been posted as Managing Director of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL).
The new BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad was working as secretary, agriculture department. The government transferred IAS officer M. Maheshwar Rao, MD of KPCL and appointed him as secretary of the agriculture department.
