KODAIKANAL: It was a home coming for Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey, who toured his first work places – Andipatti and Periyakulam blocks, including Kodaikanal – for the last two days.
He made the visit to these areas following the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 60 senior secretaries to go to their first work places and find out what kind of development had taken place there and what needed to be done to further develop the places.
He was Sub-Collector of Andipatti, which was then represented by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder and former Chief Minster M.G. Ramachandran.
Mr. Choubey said Kodaikanal was so close to him as he participated in two major functions there. MGR inaugurated ‘Kohinoor’ Bungalow and Mother Teresa University when he was the Sub-Collector of Periyakulam.
MGR had invited the then Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, for the inaugural function of Kohinoor Bungalow, which was named after his father Sheikh Abdulla, he said.
Then the Secretary wanted to meet one particular revenue official, Danial, who was working at Kodaikanal Taluk Office at that time. An official accompanying him told him that Danial was no more.
Mr. Choubey mentioned about two incidents that took place in Theni district. In March 1985, there was a flash flood in Vaigai river. Then, MGR visited the spot and discussed the damage with officials. “When I told him that I could not speak in Tamil, he scolded me. His remarks prompted me to learn Tamil so quickly,” he said in fluent Tamil. The second incident was about the firing in Chinnamanur to quell a clash, in which three persons died.
Mr. Choubey was happy over the developments the district has witnessed. “I see remarkable development in Andipatti, Kadamalaigundu, Theni and Bodi. Now, Kadamalaigundu has a shopping mall, where I saw just a few huts in the 1980s. But Periyakulam has not improved much,” he said.
He told the officials to give thrust to information technology platform as it would ensure quick service and reduce human interface.
