Senior Karnataka cadre IAS officer Upendra Tripathy, who has made a mark in the administration in different positions, retired from services as the Secretary of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, New Delhi, on Monday.
Mr. Tripathy has held a special place for Dakshina Kannada district for it was his first district of posting, as the Assistant Commissioner of Puttur Revenue Sub Division, in 1982.
“Puttur was a small, but beautiful town, which had STD facilities even then,” he recalled. While the family liked the place, Mr. Tripathy had excellent officers at the official front in Puttur, Sullia and Belthangady taluks. He is in touch with some of them even now.
Mr. Tripathy told The Hindu that he had some challenges, which included time and target bound regularisation of encroached lands; disposal of tenancy cases, decongestion of the Puttur Main Road; preservation of Shivarama Karanth’s house; establishment of a blood bank in Puttur; development of Birumalai Hills; inter-State movement of paddy and rice and the management of monkey fever, which he ably handled. After two years, he went to Chitradurga as a special Deputy Commissioner.
The first posting at Puttur helped him mould the career, Mr. Tripathy said adding he learnt the skills of being an effective executive magistrate. Puttur gave him the development orientation that a civil servant needs to be proactive and innovation-minded.
Puttur and Dakshina Kannada have great potential for being the engines of growth in Karnataka in education, industry and commerce, he feels.
As the managing director of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Mr. Tripathy was responsible for the turnaround of the corporation and its massive expansion. He is a recipient of Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2009.
As he visited Puttur last year upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direction to Secretaries to visit their first places of posting, Mr. Tripathy was impressed by the all-round development. Sadly, the Birumalai Hill Road was crowded with buildings missing the serenity, he said.
