Young IAS R Sudhan raises fund from his batch-mates for a cause in a NE district

Women dancing in Manipur's Ukhrul district

A YOUNG Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS officer R Sudhan has begun to collect Rs 500 from each of his 89 batch-mates. This officer of 2006 batch, currently serving as deputy commissioner in Manipur’s Ukhrul district, has adopted this unique fund-raising method…
to help his district’s women volunteers to work towards food security.
According to local media, Sudhan who originally hails from Tamil Nadu, announced his plans while addressing Women Bread Winners’ Union (WBWU) in the town’s community hall recently. Significantly, this organization was also formed in 2006 by about 100 women farmers of Ukhrul, a hill district of Manipur dominated by Nagas, mainly to achieve food security.
The women volunteers save some amount of rice every month from each family, keep those in the common granary only to be used during the days of massive food scarcity.
The question is not just of a meager contribution of Rs 500. Sudhan’s efforts to connect his batch-mates posted across the country for the cause may help other officers understand about a non-descript hilly district of North-East India, its people and problems. Only last month, about 40,000 North-Easterners had to flee Bangalore in three days after hate SMSes and MMSes were spread by a few miscreants. In many cases, lack of understanding about the people and places of the North-East is largely responsible for non-integration of NE people with rest of Indians even after 65 years of India’s independence.
Sudhan was an engineer before getting into IAS.
The other prominent IAS officers who had earlier served in Ukhrul district as deputy commissioner included Jarnail Singh of 1974 batch, and 1978 batch serving officer V Chhiber, who was recently appointed as secretary in department of ex-servicemen welfare. Jarnail Singh, who was district commissioner of Ukhrul between 1979 and 1981 had retired as a secretary to government of India and had also served as CEO of Organizing Committee of Delhi Commonwealth Games, 2010.