Owing to public pressure, the transfer order of IAS officer Randeep D who was shunted from his position as the Additional Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, has been reversed. On November 30, a circular signed by Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy listing out transfer orders of IAS officers in the state had said that Randeep would be posted as the Commissioner of Social Welfare Department.
Randeep had earned the confidence of waste management activists for his attempts to reform the ill-managed waste management system of the city. A Change.org petition to voice their opposition to Randeep’s transfer and calling for his reinstatement got the support of close to 900 people at the time of writing.
He was credited with setting up the Solid Waste Management control room, and bringing proposals of GPS tracking of auto tippers and compactors and updating the microplan. Activists pointed out that it was Randeep who was responsible for implementation of standard operating procedures with regards to the BBMP’s Animal Husbandry Department.
According to citizen activists working with the BBMP on solid waste management, Randeep was open to initiating various reforms in the waste management and animal husbandry departments. Questions were asked at whose behest the decision taken to transfer Randeep who had just taken the position five months ago.
Randeep, who was working as the Special Commissioner of Health and Waste Management, was strangely left out of a delegation headed by Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara (also the Deputy CM) that visited France to study the feasibility of waste-to-energy plants and waste management processes of French municipalities.