By CK Nayak
New Delhi: Though everyone in India is well aware of the country’s fight against COVID-19, those who are relentlessly working behind the scene have remained behind public glare.
One of those people is Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch IAs officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who is currently serving as the Union Home Secretary.
Bhalla is leading the nation’s fight against the pandemic in his capacity as Chairperson, National Executive Committee under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. He writes to states and coordinates with all the Chief Secretaries/DGPs on a regular basis to ensure availability of essential goods, by invoking Essential Commodities Act 1955 and other important advisories.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), with the Prime Minister of India as chairperson, was established in 2005 and is responsible for “laying down the policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management” and to ensure “timely and effective response to disaster”. The National Executive Committee (NEC) assists the National Authority.
The NEC is responsible for the preparation of the National Disaster Management Plan for the whole country and to ensure that it is “reviewed and updated annually.
Bhalla is handling the work of the Ministry of Home Affairs which is the nodal agency in managing law and order, internal security and other things amid the crisis and issues guidelines on intervals for the welfare of people during the lockdown.
After various stints both in the state and at the Centre, Bhalla was serving as the Principal Resident Commissioner in Meghalaya House in New Delhi when he was picked to become Joint Secretary, Ministry of Coal in 2010 during the UPA II regime. He went on to become its Additional Secretary five years later. During his tenure, he dealt with allocation and allotment of coal blocks during critical period.
Bhalla took over the Home Ministry in August 2019 for a fixed tenure of two years. The top bureaucrat from Meghalaya took charge when Amit Shah initiated several strong steps such as withdrawal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
This was quickly followed by the amendment in the Citizenship Bill and implementation of National Registrar of Citizens. The whole country including Meghalaya went up in protest over the highly controversial bill but he remained unscathed from any controversy till date.
According to the corridors of the power, Bhalla, became one of the most reliable officials after the successful implementation of the Saubhagaya Scheme. This scheme is one of the flagship programmes led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Before that, Bhalla had already caught the attention of the BJP top brass after playing a key role in coal block auctions during the first term of the Modi government without causing any controversy. Former Coal Secretary Anil Swarup who was once Bhalla’s boss was effusive in his praise.
After the ACC-appointed Bhalla moved to MHA, Swarup tweeted, “Bhalla is one of the finest officers I had the privilege to work with. He, along with a committed team, was responsible for clearing the coal mess. He will do well wherever he goes though he was well on his way to clear the power mess as well. “
According to sources, Bhalla has carried the reputation of being an effective officer and a fine human being. But at the same time, he remains low profile.
A resident of Delhi, he has an MBA degree from The University of Queensland in Australia and is known for his no nonsense approach.
Those in Meghalaya House still remember him for keeping a low profile but amiable nature. Even after securing an important position, Bhalla still keeps his date with the Meghalaya Day every year at the lawns of Meghalaya House.
Now the top IAS officer is heading a section of civil servants who have been tirelessly managing the country’s system round-the-clock.
Under his stewardship, they have been relentlessly taking measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and managing smooth functioning of key departments like administration, finance, health, diagnosis, prevention, research and cure.