https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Camouflaged DM of Rampur

During his stint as the district magistrate of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Aunjaneya Kumar Singh inspected paddy purchase centres in his district, in disguise, to detect the malpractices and get the farmers right price of their produce.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Indian mythology is full of stories about kings and princes hitting the streets of their kingdom in disguise to see for themselves, the state of the people of their kingdom.


Taking a cue from such stories the former District Magistrate of Rampur, Mr. Aunjaneya Kumar Singh found out all the wrongs being committed in the purchase of paddy and set them right, while he was posted in the city in the year 2020.
Talking about the rapid decline in export of rice, last year Mr. Aunjaneya told Indian Masterminds said, “lockdown due to Corona affected the export. While 80% of crops had been harvested, ushering in paddy season a bit early.”

Mr. Aunjaneya talking to the officials present on site

The problem:

The purchase made by the government is done on a fixed rate – Minimum Support Price. “The reason I had to go to the Mandi myself was that I found that the paddy was not being purchased at MSP. Instead of Rs. 2400 per quintal, farmers were forced to sell their produce to private traders at Rs 1100-1200 per quintal. Farmers were suffering.”

Camouflaging in the crowd:

The DM had received numerous complaints against the officials making the purchasing centers set up by the government to procure paddy. Whenever he sent an official, they came back with an ‘O.K. report’ but the farmers were still complaining continuously.

That’s when he decided that he had to visit the market himself and that too, in disguise so that nobody recognizes him and he can see what’s going on in the place. He covered his face, put on his slippers, took his assistants and some guards, and went to the nearest mandi, 45 minutes away, in a private vehicle.

He got down a few meters away from the mandi and walked to the place. He strolled around in the mandi for about 2 hours, disguised as a farmer.

District Magistrate; Rampur

The Exposé:

“I found that in two government-run paddy centers, there was hardly anyone making a purchase. The center-in charge started making excuses. But barely a few meters away, another center, was doing brisk business. There was a huge crowd providing paddy. I found that it was a private center. Disappointed at being returned from the govt-run center, farmers were forced to sell their crop at the private center at half rate,” he told Indian Masterminds.

Mr. Aunjaneya went around inspecting all the mandis one by one. Then he dialed the city SDM narrating everything that was going on. He asked the SDM and the other officials to do a thorough check. He was surprised to find out that the rice traders had rented out the place used for drying the paddy, making it inaccessible to the farmers.

“They bought the farmer’s moisture-filled paddy at a low rate, dried them on the land they had rented and sold it to the government centers at a higher rate, making a cool profit without much ado.”

Mr. Aunjaneya inspecting the centers

The action:

The first thing that Mr. Aunjaneya did was to stop the transaction of paddy from the roads.
Another thing he did was to set up a fixed rate of Rs. 1868-1888. He forbade everyone to buy/sell the paddy at any other rate, thereby halting the process of the transaction.

“This benefitted the farmers as they now had the time to dry and clean their paddy which will automatically increase its rate. And this also benefitted the system as I sacked and filed an FIR against the person who was making the illegal transactions and this brought a sense of fear in everybody’s mind,” he told Indian Masterminds.

No one could recognize him in the disguise

Fruit of the action:

The steps taken by the DM proved to be rewarding. By 11th October, the total purchase was only 53,000 quintal and 12th October onwards, the total purchase rose up to 2,16,000 quintal! “Within 4 days, the purchase rose up to such a huge amount. About 45,000 quintals have been purchased every day and I believe it will increase more in the coming days.”

Not his first time:

Mr. Aunjaneya has not done such an act for the first time. He has done it before, during the Covid lockdown and he says he will do it again because, like that, he gets actual feedback.

“We are the bridge between the government and the people. The government always thinks about the public’s welfare, bringing around new schemes with a hope that it might benefit them in the next elections,” he says.

He has done such work before

Mr. Singh adds, “Technology is the best thing to have happened to check such malpractices. I even ask all the officers to make use of technology and social media as much as possible but never turn your back towards the traditional way of stepping into the crowd and interacting with the citizens on a one-to-one basis. Let the public be comfortable with you!”


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Indian Forest Services IFS officer
Jharkhand IFS Rajneesh Kumar Transferred Amid Ongoing Legal Proceedings - Details Inside
Uttar Pradesh UP Government
17 Review Officers Transferred in Uttar Pradesh Secretariat Administration Reshuffle - Details Inside
IFS-forest-resized
6 IFS Officers Transferred in Odisha to Strengthen Environmental Administration, Jagayandatt Pati Made RCCF, Koraput Circle
IAS Officers Indian Administrative Services IAS logo
4 Young IAS Officers Reshuffled in Uttarakhand, Rahul Anand Made Joint Magistrate, Dehradun
Odisha Government
Odisha Elevates Two Promising IFS Officers to Senior Time Scale, Strengthening Forest Leadership - Know More About Them
Yogi Adityanath UP
Uttar Pradesh Floods: CM Yogi Adityanath Forms ‘Team-11’ for Swift and Transparent Flood Relief Across 12 Districts
DGR Job Fair
DGR Job Fair 2025 Held in Delhi to Empower Ex-Servicemen with Career Opportunities in Emerging Tech - Details Inside
omc
Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) Begins Dispatch from Dubna Mines, Strengthening Supply Chain and Industrial Growth
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IAS Karn Satyarthi
How IAS Karn Satyarthi Transformed Gumla Through Empathy and Innovation
Ananth Rupanagudi IRAS
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi’s Take on Corruption, Reform, and Duty
WhatsApp Image 2025-07-26 at 13.16
What Most Indians Don't Know About Jim Corbett
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
BPSC Bihar police
From Lantern Light to Police Uniform: How Praveen Kumar from a Small Bihar Village Cracked BPSC to Become SDPO
From a lantern-lit village in Bihar to becoming an SDPO, Praveen Kumar's journey is a testament to resilience,...
IAS Priyansha Garg
Why Mindset Matters: IAS Priyansha Garg’s Mental Health Mantra for UPSC
After two failed prelims, Priyansha Garg cracked UPSC with AIR 31 in her fourth attempt, proving how...
Ashish Akshat
From Setback to State Topper: How Ashish Akshat Topped JPSC While Working Full-Time
Ashish Akshat from Dhanbad topped JPSC 2023, proving that resilience, discipline, and family support...
Social Media
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve: From India’s First Sanctuary to a Tiger Conservation Success Story | International Tiger Day Special
IAS Supriya Sahu Hails Mudumalai's Role in Tiger Conservation on Tiger Day. Declared in 1940, Now Among...
Mangroves
Mangroves: Nature’s Shield Against Disasters, Says Officer Parveen Kaswan on Mangroves Day - Watch His Post Here
Mangroves, with their dense, interlaced root systems, form a mesh-like structure that serves as a buffer...
Retired IPS Inderjit Singh Sidhu
Purpose Doesn’t Retire: How 88-Year-Old Retired DIG Becomes Chandigarh’s ‘Quiet Warrior’ of Cleanliness
Inderjit Singh Sidhu’s Dawn Patrol Earns Applause, Mahindra’s Praise for a Man Who Chose Action Over...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Indian Forest Services IFS officer
Jharkhand IFS Rajneesh Kumar Transferred Amid Ongoing Legal Proceedings - Details Inside
Uttar Pradesh UP Government
17 Review Officers Transferred in Uttar Pradesh Secretariat Administration Reshuffle - Details Inside
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IAS Karn Satyarthi
Ananth Rupanagudi IRAS
WhatsApp Image 2025-07-26 at 13.16
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT