About Shri Ratnakar Yeshwant Gaikwad (IAS)

Ratnakar Yeshwant Gaikwad (IAS)
Name
:
Shri Ratnakar Yeshwant Gaikwad (IAS)
Date of Birth
:
30th May 1952
Qualifications
:
M.Sc - 1974 (Geography)
B.Sc - 1972 (Geography, Chemistry & Botany)
IAS Batch
:
1975
Language Skill
:
English / Hindi / Marathi
Summary
Senior IAS officer, with extensive field experience in complex areas of governance. Has carved a niche in all the positions and always led from the front.Planned and executed major infrastructure and transport projects imaginatively. Reform oriented, nonhierarchical in thought and disposition, allows ideas to germinate into action by his uniquely developed think tank and KRA (Key Result Area) concept. Firm belief in the Richard Koch Principle of 80:20 - that 80% of results flow from just 20% of the causes - is the one true principle of highly effective people and organisations." Also believe in proactive action and team work. Throughout my tenure as a civil servant, addressed long standing matters of public grievances and learnt that with sincerity, sensitivity and willingness to see things in the right perspective, ‘systemic constraints’ did not come in the way of tackling them efficiently. Senior Vipassana meditator with a belief in power of the mind.

While working as Director General. Yashada, an apex training institute of Govt of Maharashtra , Was instrumental in starting" right to information cell" in Yashada in 2003 . Due to untiring efforts between 2003 to 2007, Yashada came to be recognised as National Resource Centre on RTI by Govt of India.
Experience

Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra (Jan 2011 onwards)

Being the administrative head of the State, and with the sole aim of furthering the frontiers of the State to ensure it remains in the forefront, set up a think tank of nodal officers to identify the key result areas (KRAs) – the thrust areas for the State, with both a short term and long term perspective, so as to mobilize all possible resources for their success, resolve inter departmental coordination bottlenecks and enlist stakeholder support in the identified direction. As a result of the think tank deliberations forty key result areas were identified, and translated into short and long terms plans of action. Some of the programmes that were sagging for years like the NREGA flagship scheme of the Centre, saw a miraculous rise from 300 crores of expenditure per year to 1600 crores expenditure for 2011- 2012. This was possible because the entire machinery geared up to ensure the success of this key result area.

Skill development of the youth so as to ensure their employability was another thrust area identified with a futuristic perspective of providing skilled labour for the challenges ahead. Many stakeholder consultations have been done and targets allocated to the relevant departments for achieving the objective of skilling 45 lakh youths per year.

Some other significant KRAs are one billion tree plantations for improving the forest cover to the national average of 33%. Port development for impacting the GDP of the State, increasing industrial investment up to 2.58 lakh crores, resource mobilisation have been identified for economic growth and development of the State. Social issues of reducing malnutrition, improving child sex ratio and controlling child labour have also been focused. Devising a State Training Policy and an old age policy for the first time in the country have been some successes of the KRA initiative. Also planning a 600 crore fully equipped multi-speciality J.J hospital by revamping the old premises and getting it approved by the government was another outcome of KRA think tank.
The institution of the Chief Secretary is crucial in providing leadership and direction to the administration so as to inspire them to perform to their maximum with team work and to resolve the bottlenecks and ensure a smooth execution of the goals identified- goals that have been crystallised into Key Result Areas for the State.

Metropolitan Commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, MMRDA (2007-2010)

Realised the tremendous potential of one of the richest organisation of the country, that was established to bring about a holistic development of the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), and envisaged projects over Rs.one lakh crores so as to enable to put infrastructure development works in Mumbai on a fast track.

After amendment to MMRDA Act in 2003, MMRDA was permitted to take up the execution of works in transport sector in Mumbai. Though metro rail corridor of Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar was conceptualised in 2003, the construction on PPP basis began only in 2008 when the issue of land for car depot was resolved imaginatively by acquiring 23 acres of land at Andheri through appropriate amendment in DC rules of Mumbai. Also work for Corridor -2, Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd Corridor, was awarded and concession agreement was signed.

In addition to Metro Rail, there was a need felt for a feeder system to suburban rail and metro rail and the concept of mono rail was studied, planned and operationalized in a professional manner so much so that the work began by February 2009 thus making it one of the fastest executed public sector projects in the world. With less maintenance cost, cheaper than Metro, able to take sharp turns and consuming less road space, it was especially advantageous for the congested city of Mumbai.

Implemented the innovative, pro-common man idea of sky walks connecting railway foot over bridges to main roads outside stations so that railway commuters do not have to come out of the station that is severely congested due to narrow roads, hawkers and auto rickshaws. Almost 35 one km skywalks were constructed in a record time of 6 months and are being used by about a lakh or so commuters. Conceptualized a multi modal corridor between the extreme southern end and extreme northern end of MMR i.e. between Alibaug and Virar, which is supposed to be 200 mtr. wide, and 140 km long and would incorporate 2 BRTS lanes, 8 lanes carriage way, metro corridor, utility corridor, two wheeler lanes, service roads so as to address varied travel demands of the MMR region.

Conceptualized and worked out details of the first of its kind innovation Park, on 5000 acres of land near Mumbai, in collaboration with Science and Technology Park ( STP) with the aim to provide high tech and research based facilities and research and development laboratories that would provide solutions for Industrial products in the field of pharmaceuticals, bio technology, IT etc. With MMRDA stake of 26% , this park had a potential to impact the GDP of MMRDA making it a global destination.

Thus, crystalized various ideas, themes into sixteen programmes spanning from infrastructure to sanitary land fill sites with estimated project cost of Rs. 1, 13,415 crores, mainly coming from Public Private Participation.

Director General,Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA), Pune - (2003-2007)

Envisioned YASHADA as a premier training institute with a global character, independent of Government grants so as to make it truly autonomous in nature.

For this purpose adopted a multi-pronged strategy that included scaling up the average courses and the number of trainee participants per year, increasing the research and evaluation projects while at the same time making massive improvements in the physical infrastructure by equipping the institute with a Management Development Centre, three auditoria, sports facilities like jogging track and residential quarters complete with beautiful lawns and resurfaced internal roads. Serious efforts were also made to improve the training infrastructure like the audio visual equipment and the computer labs and to augment the training capacity.

A unique approach of encouraging week end and sponsored courses that attracted PSUs, corporates and mission oriented departments enabled an increase in the generation of funds for the corpus of the academy.

While working as Director General. Yashada, an apex training institute of Govt of Maharashtra , Was instrumental in starting" right to information cell" in Yashada in 2003 . Due to untiring efforts between 2003 to 2007, Yashada came to be recognised as National Resource Centre on RTI by Govt of India.

Principal Secretary, Transport and State Excise - (2003)

Held this post for only three months but initiated the think tank that served as a platform for exchange of ideas between field officers and Secretariat. Many ideas of revenue generation were implemented. The proposal of creation of additional flying squads under the Motor Vehicle Act was accepted by the Government and this ensured the expansion of the department along with substantial increase in revenue.

Evolved a formula for calculating the number of toddy shops to be sanctioned in proportion to the number of toddy tress available in the district and this helped reduce the number of toddy shops especially in the districts where due to insufficient toddy trees poisonous chloral hydrate was being sold.

Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Pune - (2001-2003)

Devised a systematic and computerised Management Information System (MIS) for the field offices based on certain key performance indicators thus enabling monthly compilation of district and divisional information so as to facilitate monitoring of key activities of the department and also ensured timely interventions. Classified the performance of the huge network of Cooperative Credit Institutions viz. the banks and credit societies into three major parameters of a) Non Performing Assets b) Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) and c) Profit/Loss with average weightages that added p o hundred. The MIS based on this classification not only enabled up dated information of these multitude societies but also ensured rewards and punishments in terms of letters of appreciation and censures depending on good and bad performances.

Developed Business development Plan for Primary Agriculture Credit societies (PACS) that envisaged these societies taking up many other activities other than credit, such as marketing, supply of seed, fertilisers etc. thus reviving about 600 PACS in more ways than one. Focussed on women’s SHGs with the active support of NABARD and promoted their growth on certain parameters such as regular meetings of SHGs, their empowerment process, credit linkages etc.

Secretary, Water Supplyand Sanitation, Mumbai - (2001)

Ensured approval of the project ‘Jalswarajya’, a 1500 crores project of water supply schemes funded by World bank for the rural areas. Initiated a policy of delegation of powers of entrusting water supply schemes up to a particular limit to Village Panchayats. This was a landmark in the history of water sector reforms in Maharashtra.

Formulated a first ever state policy for sanitation in the rural areas by outlining the principles of construction of toilet blocks with the active involvement of NGOs based on the experiences in Mumbai and Pune Municipal Corporation.

As Municipal Commissioner, Pune Municipal Commissioner - (1999-2000)

Worked closely with NGOs and with civil society to ensure that garbage was lifted within 24 hours of being generated and it was a priority for all ward officers who were disciplined enough not to leave their ward offices until the last filled up container in their ward was lifted. The zero garbage campaign got full support of the conservancy staff and the active involvement of citizen’s groups. Commissioned the garbage transfer station within two months for the city of Pune so that the two dumping grounds in Kothrud and Hadapsar could be closed down. This was widely appreciated by the citizens of Pune as it ensured hygienic, sanitary conditions for them.

Identified 200 locations for construction of pre fab urinals so that gave access to urinal facilities to around three lakh citizens. Installation of litterbins throughout the city and setting up Nuisance Detection Squads was another initiative taken up to ensure a clean and healthy city.

Envisioned an open defecation free city that had 40% of its population living in slums and defecating in open nalas and rail tracks and revealing a toilet seats to population ratio of 1:800, thus reflecting the gravity of the problem of hygiene and human dignity. After an initial survey of the situation, a sanitation model was developed whereby NGOs worked with the communities to identify the location, prepare the design and prepare plans and estimates with the overall supervision of city engineers, with a plan to provide free electricity and water but with thirty years of community based maintenance. The city wide approach ensured construction of a whopping 10,000 toilet seats in two phases in just 18 months and not only won accolades nationally and internationally but also laid the foundation of the National Policy of Sanitation.

Additional Commissioner, Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation - (1996-1998)

Launched the ‘ zero garbage campaign’, based on the Surat experience, by forming 221 empowered zonal squads, moving every day from 6 am to 1 pm on 6917 garbage collection points and monitoring their clearance on an hourly basis, taking on the spot decisions on garbage disposal, water supply and drainage. Also worked extensively with NGOs and encouraged their involvement that saw multiple litter bins in the city of Mumbai.

Spear headed citizen’s participation in solid waste management by encouraging Advance Locality Management (ALMs) through a series of discussions with citizen’s groups. A framework was created and with the help of proactive citizen’s participation, activities like waste segregation, vermi composting took place due to which more than 500 ALMs were formed.

Proactively worked out the framework for disaster management by conducting a detailed micro planning study that identified NGOs, social activists and other institutions that could be deployed during emergency as it was a known fact that floods would occur in Mumbai if heavy rain of over 150 mm in two hours was accompanied by high tide.

Made substantial improvements in the field of education by adopting a unique approach of adopting schools through NGOS and holding weekly review meetings regarding physical status, school dropouts, teachers in position and all such aspects that had a bearing on quality of education.

With a unique concept of micro planning, mobilised local communities to involve in solving problems of their slums and planned possible interventions by the Corporation in the issues of health services, garbage, water supply , drainage .Motivated all the ward officers to get involved in the slum adoption programme that focussed on local interventions that motivated the slum communities.

With land as a resource in Mumbai city, conceptualised the toilet construction programme with a A and B pattern, whereby NGO being sanctioned a toilet block in commercial area, would take up another one in slum area with a condition that the entire cost of construction and maintenance being borne by the NGO and BMC providing water and electricity free of cost. The A and B pattern had a huge response with 32 NGOs constructing about 100 toilets in just few months without requiring BMC to spend anything from its budget.

Secretary, Social welfare,Mantralaya, Mumbai - (1994-1996)

Ensured approval of the cabinet proposal to make SCP (Sub Component Plan) a sub - plan of the State. This changed the entire approach towards SCP and gave Social Welfare Department a better say in formulating schemes as well as allocating budgets to various departments. It increased allocation of crucial schemes targeting the weaker section of society to multiple times thus increasing the efficacy of these schemes.

Strengthened the Mahatma Phule Corporation that was set up for the economic development of the Scheduled Caste beneficiaries and piloted new, innovative schemes like commercial pilot training scheme and development of coaching centres for competitive exams for SC boys and girls. Piloted the concept of residential schools for SC boys and girls so as to provide them with academic environment beneficial for over all development. Ten new Ashram schools were set up immediately and has made a significant impact on the educational standards of SC families.

Piloted the MatoshreeVrudhashram Scheme that stipulated a grant of 5 acres of Government land and Rs 50 lakhs for construction and recurring grants. Helped commission a vrudhashram at Khadavali, Thane district with the cooperation of local Vipassana meditators and led to the most well run vrudhashram in the state, coupled with the Vipassana Meditation Centre.

Initiated revision of schemes, especially rates of scholarship schemes that were increased twenty times after persuasion and follow-up. Also initiated revision of Dalit Vasti Improvement, Backward class housing scheme and 22 such schemes, thus bringing these schemes in tune with times, so that could respond to the needs of the current beneficiaries.

Commissioner, LabourCommissionerate, Mumbai – (1993-1994)

Focussed on not just enforcement of child labour legislation, but also their rehabilitation and welfare, by convergence of various stakeholders such as the social welfare and tribal welfare department and roped in NGOs to buttress this work so as to create long term impact and create hostels and rehabilitation centres with lasting value.

Vice President, Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority (MHADA), Mumbai – (1992-1993)

Initiated the land bank concept by setting up committees with the Collectors and ADTPs (Assistant Director of Town Planning) to locate suitable private plots in central locations throughout the state and buy them through private negotiations so that MHADA flats could be useful and attractive to city dwellers.

Director, Social Welfare Directorate, Pune - (1991-1992)

Linked the various departments’ on-going schemes to the Dalit Bastis by a systematic compilation of data on dalitbastis through a socio economic survey so as to finalise both individual beneficiary schemes as well as community development schemes in the 1200 bastis and secured an allocation of 100 crores for these schemes.
Devised the strategy of adoption of dalitbastis through collective visits and night halts not just by social welfare officers but also by Collector’s, CEOs of a district so as to make the dalitbastis a focussed target group by all departments. Focussed on massive expansion of government hostels that had contributed significantly to the educational upliftment of backward classes by preparing a master plan of hostels per taluka and getting 32 hostels approved within a record time of two months from the cabinet.

Strengthened the institution of DrBabasahebAmbedkar Research Institute (BARTI) that had been set up to propagate the ideas and social philosophy of DrBabasahebAmbedkar by replacing the dilapidated structure with a new building and organising series of workshops with eminent personalities associated with DrBabasahebAmbedkar in his lifetime thus capturing the memories and the rich associations and making them an invaluable piece of record in the Institute.

Chief Executive Officer,Khadi& Village Board, Mumbai - (1989- 1990)

Pioneered the concept of ‘GramudyogVasahat’ which envisaged the provision of land, water, electricity, training to artisans and raw material and marketing support to the educated unemployed who ventured into production/ marketing. With persistent efforts many such tiny industrial clusters were developed throughout the State thus providing employment opportunities to many rural youths.

Encouraged the sericulture programme, by focussing on effective mulberry plantations and monitoring district wise by efficient computerisation due to which the production of cocoons that had stagnated around 32 tonnes a year, took a quantum jump of 300 tonnes, so much so that Maharashtra came first in the non-conventional states in sericulture.

Focussed on the Khadiprogramme, and launched it on a massive scale by motivating NGOs and tying up the backward and forward linkages so as to provide employment for 2000 women in 66 units throughout the state. Revived the Block Level Village Artisan Societies ((BVLS) that aimed at organising artisans and providing them raw material and credit, by revamping the cash credit system, and disbursing composite loans worth 17 crores to 20000 artisans within a year, through the NABARD Refinance Scheme.

Strengthened the marketing link by garnering the support of Bombay Municipal Corporation to open 35 sales outlets in key locations of the city so that the beautiful articles made by artisans find access to markets in the city. On similar lines, 300 sales outlets were made operational throughout the State.

Collector, Solapur District - (1985-1988)

Undertook a massive programme of construction of talathichavdis without any assigned funds, partly by MLA funds and partly by village donations so as to cover all 408 talathisazas in three months.

With team work and systematic efforts, Solapur district stood first in all the Family Welfare Programmes including family planning and sterilisation and also in small savings campaign and all the 22 indicators identified for assessment of district performance consistently for three years. Implemented the Sericulture programme, due to its tremendous labour potential, by organizing all activities from training programmes to marketing of cocoons in a systematic manner in all the model villages.

With a convergence of various agencies, Khadiprogramme was also started in all the model villages and helped provide employment to women especially in DakshinSolapur. It was linked up innovatively with DRDA infrastructure funds, particularly the construction of sheds and training components of the programme.

Collector, Gadchiroli District - (1982-1985)

Being a Collector, of a new district, freshly carved out of Chandrapur, the greatest challenge was to commission the District Head quarter complex at Gadchiroli. Within two years, the new District headquarter was complete with 250 quarters and shifted to Gadchiroli in spite of severe crunch of funds and employee resistance.

To encourage employees to stay in the newly formed district headquarters, enough thought was given to creation of recreation facilities, indoor games centre, shopping complexes and provision of black topped internal roads complete with garden for the employees and their families. Took up the cause of allotment of land to ashram shalas and in spite of no provision of funds from the Government, obtained funds from ZillaParishad, prepared construction plan and completed the construction of these residential schools for tribal students thusfurthering the cause of education of the poor tribal families.

Displayed tremendous leadership in all the execution of all programmes especially construction of Biogas plants, Family planning campaign and small savings programme whereby the district always stood first in the State for three years of the tenure.

Chief Executive Officer, ZillaParishad, Amravati - (1981-1982)

Identified the issue of severe scarcity of school blocks and with an intelligent strategy for provision of funds through the District Village Development Fund, enabled the construction of 350 school blocks by Village Panchayats in a record time of one year.

Motivated entire team of M.Os and B.D.Os to perform to the hilt in the family planning campaign and the tireless efforts yielded fruits when Amravati ranked first throughout the State not just in Family Planning but also in all the indicators of Health.

Commissioned twelve residential quarters for ZillaParishad officers in just two months, a miracle acknowledged by the then Divisional Commissioner, Late L.N. Doshi. Also constructed over 100 quarters for staff working in tribal areas of Dharni and Chikaldhara from forest grants that solved a crucial problem for the government officials especially school teachers of this area.

Trainings Attended

SN Training Programme From To Total Period
1 Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi Oct. 1983   Five weeks
2 Study tour of the Countries Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore And Thailand 29.08.1985 15.09.1985 18 days
3 National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi 10.02.1986 14.02.1986 5 days
4 Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow 24.11.1986 12.12.1986 3 weeks
5 Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow 30.05.1987 6.06.1987 1 week
6 Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai 28.08.1989 2.09.1989 7 days
7 Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore 1988 Sept 1988 30 days
8 Indian Institute of Management Vastrapur, Ahmedabad (on project management level-I) 05.02.199. 10.02.1990 6 days
9 Post Graduate Diploma in Development Administration, University of Manchester, U.K. (under Colombo Plan)
  • GO8 (Issues in organization behavior)
  • S-22 (Rural Development)
  • FO-8 (Human resources Development)
05.10.199.   8 months
10 Asian Environment Leaders Training Programme at Japan on Environmental Control, Waste Management 01.10.1998 30.10.1998 1 month
11 National Law School of Indian University, Bangalore (One week Training Course for I.A.S Officers) (Administrative Law) 09.10.2000 13.10.2000 5 days
12 Seminar on Rain Water Harvesting At Mannheim (Frankfurt), Germany Sept. 2001    
13 RIPA international, London (U.K) (Two Week Training on ‘Management of Training Functions’) (Under UNDP/GOI Project:’ Strengthening of State All Institutes in India’ 18.10.2004 29.10.2004 Two weeks
14 Study four to Australia as part of Machinery of Government Study and Local Bodies Financial Accountability Assessment Study being undertaken under Ongoing Governance Reform Programme, (Sponsored by Centre of Good Governance, Hydrabad) 03.09.2005 12.09.2005 10 days
15 Participation in the 4th World Water Forum organized by UN HABITAT, United Nations Human Settlements Programme at Mexico City, Mexico 16.03.2006 22.3.2006 6 days
16 International Study tour to analyse “Policies & Institutional Arrangements in the Sector of Urban Sanitation” in Australia & Sanitation Programme-South Asia of World Bank) 08.10.2006 19.10.2006 12 days
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