LAGATAR 24 NETWORK
Daltonganj, July 28: A lacklustre function to mark the change of guards in the collectorate became a hot news here when soon after handing over charge to new DC Shashi Ranjan, outgoing DC Anjaneyulu Dodde called in his peon Nandlal, hugged him and quite abruptly bent down to touch his feet rendering the poor peon mute and helpless today.
All this happened in just two seconds taking everyone by utter surprise as one has come to learn about Dodde to be highly impulsive but not to this extent to touching the feet of his peon.
Dodde, who has been shifted to neighbouring Dumka district as DC, did not stop here. He revealed in a very sterile tone “My father was also a peon.”
This revelation was as stunning as his touching the feet of his peon. He hugged two more peons Videsh and Dilip but did not touch their feet.
It was now the turn of these three to touch the feet of Dodde.
And the man who watched this with a great sense of bewilderment was the new DC Shashi Ranjan. He did not show any emotion and refrained from making any reaction to it.
The three peons were flabbergasted. They looked less happy, more frightened as to what the new boss Shashi Ranjan would think about them.
The three were in two minds like to show their ecstasy or to remain as cold as stone. These three preferred to the second option.
Dodde, a 2011 batch IAS officer, has always with him a great element of surprise. As DC, his policy was to stand firm on ‘No’ to things which he disapproved. He seldom showed publicly that he acknowledged the suggestions.
The trial time to Dodde was the hullabaloo between the Mushahars and the Muslims under the Pandu block where a pure land issue was most calculatedly communalised. He had his tough days and nights then.
The second shocker to him was the outbreak of the communal riot at Panki where he knew peace was difficult to be brought in any sooner. Internet services here were temporarily suspended.
Dodde once told this correspondent that he saved a Muslim family from getting roasted alive at Panki.
He had had his bad moment too. It was the never-ending demand for the arms licence.
Just the next day of his transfer notification, he told this correspondent that there is a journalist of a vernacular daily who has made his life hell.
He said this guy was granted one arms licence but he wanted more of it for others too.
Surface water management was his passion and he wanted to do it but the rains deceived Palamu. He started renovation of 50 plus Zamindari bandhs.
Dodde did one thing more. He was easy to give bytes to social media but he very intelligently skipped doing monthly press conference barring one incident where he held a press briefing on electoral revision.
He stayed here in Palamu for 12 months and 14 days but there was no single day when he did not hog the limelight.
