WORKING STYLE
"What? He refused to take ten lakh rupees", the minister could not believe his ears. "Yes, I am telling the truth minister. Yesterday I went to DM Sahab with ten lakh rupees in a briefcase. But DM Sahab did not even touch the briefcase." Contractor R P Chaddha said.
The minister was listening to everything quietly. He could not understand how an officer could refuse to take such a huge amount.
"Minister Ji, do something, if I do not get this contract, I will suffer a loss of crores." Contractor Chaddha said. Disappointment was visible in his voice.
The minister kept thinking for some time and then said in a serious tone, don't worry Chaddha Sahab, in this era every person is for sale, he just needs to get a fair price. Maybe D. M. Sahab might have found ten lakhs less instead of giving a contract worth crores."
"I have brought twenty lakh rupees in a briefcase." Contractor Chaddha said.
"Okay, let's go to DM S.K. Singh's bungalow," the Minister said.
At exactly 10:30, the minister's car reached DM Sahab's bungalow. Seeing the minister getting out of the car, DM Sahab's peon informed DM Sahab about the minister's arrival.
As a matter of courtesy, DM Sahab himself came out to receive the minister and respectfully took him inside. Seeing this, the minister's face lit up with happiness. He was completely convinced that now contractor Chaddha's work would be done.
After making the minister sit on the sofa, the DM Sahab himself sat beside him and asked him, "Tell me, Honorable Minister, how you took the trouble? You could have called me, I would have come to you at the Circuit House myself.
The minister moved closer to the DM sahab and said, "DM sahab, this Chaddha Ji is a very special person to me. It is because of him that I won the elections. I have come to request you to give the contract to Chaddha Sahab for the tender you have issued for the construction of roads in the district. Then sliding the briefcase towards the DM sahab, he whispered, "There are twenty lakh rupees in this."
"Sorry Minister, I do not touch any money other than my salary. As far as the contract is concerned, it is a question of the roads of the district. I cannot compromise on the quality of the roads. I will personally inspect the works done by the contractors of the district in the last three years and on that basis, I will decide who should be given the contract to build the roads." If Chaddha Sahab's previous work is found to be correct during the inspection, then he will be given this contract. DM Sahab said in a calm but firm voice.
On hearing this, the minister was left speechless and contractor Chaddha's face turned pale. The minister felt very insulted. He came out without saying anything. His face was burning with anger.
After sitting in the car, he said to contractor Chaddha, "He seems to be a creature of the extinct species of honest people. I am unable to understand how to deal with him?" Some other way will have to be found to bring it on track. Countless lines of worry were visible on his face.
D.M. S.K. Singh used to take a keen interest in the work of the common man. He used to settle the just work of the common man immediately. Due to this his image was of a popular and hardworking officer among the people of the district.
The specialty of D.M. S.K. Singh's working style was that he would never do anything against the rules under pressure. For this, he did not accept the recommendation of any politician. Due to this, many influential leaders of the district were secretly angry with him. Now the name of the minister was also added to this list of those who were angry. But unconcerned about all this, S.K. Singh used to work day and night in works related to public welfare. He was a young officer and had the zeal and passion to work.
It was the rainy season. There was a flood in the river Ganga. Meanwhile, the news came that the Hari Baba dam built on the Ganga in the district has developed a crack, due to which there is a danger of the nearby villages getting submerged.
On receiving this news, S.K. Singh immediately reached Hari Baba dam with his subordinate officers of the district. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, he called the police force of the district, cadets of Civil Defense NCC and PWD engineers, etc. to Hari Baba dam. Everyone got busy with the work of closing the crack in the dam. At the request of DM Sahab, thousands of people from nearby villages also started volunteering.
DM Sahab himself was standing on the spot and supervising the work. After continuous efforts by the rescue team for two days and one night, the crack in the dam was completely repaired.
During these seventy-two hours, DM Sahab did not move from there even for a minute nor did he eat or drink anything. His subordinate officers requested him several times to take some rest or eat something, but DM Sahab was worried about lakhs of villagers becoming homeless, so he remained there with full alertness.
The people of the villages were hailing DM sahab for this campaign. News was being published in the media praising him. But there was a lobby of politicians in the district which had united against him.
When the water stopped coming from the crack in the dam, DM Sahab thanked everyone and headed towards his car to go to his office. But before he could reach the car, he fainted and fell.
The officers brought him to the district hospital. Investigation revealed that he fainted due to constant stress on the body and starvation. As a result of the continuous efforts of the doctors, DM Sahab regained consciousness after twelve hours. But at the request of the doctors, he had to stay in the hospital for two more days, on the third day when he became completely healthy; he was relieved from the hospital.
After being relieved from the hospital, DM S.K. Singh reached his office. Sir! This letter has come from the headquarters today, his stenographer said while handing an envelope to him.
DM Sahab opened the envelope and looked at it. Suddenly he could not believe his eyes, it was his transfer order. This was probably a reward for the selfless work done by him in the district. He was transferred from the post of District Magistrate and put on the waiting list. It was written in the order that without waiting for a replacement, you should immediately hand over the charge of District Magistrate to a senior ADM and join at the headquarters.
