Other work can wait, the rally is the focus - even for officers on the first day of their new posting.
Newly appointed district magistrate (DM) Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, who joined his new posting on Friday morning, immediately convened a meeting of officials and discussed the preparations that have been made for the Swabhiman Rally.
The event is being jointly organised by JDU and its allies, the RJD and the Congress, at Gandhi Maidan on August 30. As the transfer notification was issued on Thursday night after 10.30pm, Agarwal chose not to wait and reached Circuit House at 9.30am. At 10.30am, he was at the outgoing Patna DM Pratima S. Verma's confidential office, near Golghar, to take over charge.
It didn't take more than five minutes to hand over charge after signing a few papers. After getting the charge, Agarwal had a short closed-door interaction with the outgoing DM for around 15 minutes. He also had a brief meeting with officials and asked them to meet at the collectorate office.
At 11am, he convened a meeting of officials for Swabhiman Rally. A Bihar cadre IAS officer of the 2002 batch, Agarwal asked all officials to carry their identity card for the next two days to get acquainted with them. Then, one by one, he asked the status of the rally preparation from officials concerned.
Agarwal, who hails from Kishanganj, asked the officials: "How many magistrates would be deployed at Gandhi Maidan, what about the ambulances, what is the role of the Patna Municipal Corporation, from where we will provide drinking water, what about CCTVs and videographer. Ask the district programme officer to be in the control room that day."
He also stressed that all officials should be alert as the model code of conduct could be imposed in the state for the assembly elections anytime.
Before the meeting with officials, most senior IPS officers posted in Patna district had gathered in the conference hall in which they were supposed to brief the DM on the law and order issue. However, they had to wait as the meeting regarding Swabhiman Rally was being discussed in his chamber.
Agarwal, a BCom (Hons) graduate and a chartered accountant was first posted as a sub-divisional officer in Hajipur in 2004. In the past, he has also served as deputy development commissioner of Patna in 2006. From 2013 to 2014, he has also served as managing director of Northern Power Distribution Corporation Limited, and North Bihar Power Distribution Corporation Limited and South Bihar Power Distribution Corporation Limited.
Agarwal has earlier served as district magistrate of Jehanabad, Nalanda, Purnea, with the last one being Gaya. After completing the meeting, he went to Gandhi Maidan, where he inspected the preparation of the rally with city superintendent of police (central) Chandan Kushwaha.
Later, the DM was seen to be more active when chief minister Nitish Kumar, Bashishtha Narayan Singh, RJD unit president Ram Chandra Purbey, Prashant Kishore and Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Choudhary visited the rally venue with RJD chief Lalu Prasad's younger son Tejaswi Yadav.
