When IAS officer Rakesh Kumar Jaiswal retired from service in May, the people of his last place of posting bade him farewell with a heavy heart. There was a spontaneous outpouring of affection and good wishes for him from the people of Dhopur district. The officer was the District Collector of Dholpur for a record 32 months. Only one other collector had served in the same district for that long under this present government.
IAS officer Rakesh Kumar Jaiswal was appointed as the Collector of Dholpur on September 21, 2019 and since then for the next 32 months, he played a long, successful and a memorable inning.
In an exclusive interview to Indian Masterminds, Mr. Jaiswal shared about his achievements and the projects he undertook during his tenure as District Collector of Dholpur, Rajasthan.
BONDING WITH DHOLPUR
The officer said that he shares a special bonding with Dholpur. “I have spent around 22 years of my life in Dholpur. I studied in this place from class 1-8, was also posted here as Additional District Collector for two and a half years. The reason behind such an intense bonding with Dholpur is that I had the pleasure of working in the place where I spent my childhood days.”
As Collector of Dholpur, he took up numerous projects for the uplift of the district and also worked hard to create a bonding with the people so that they do not feel let down in any way by his administration.
He also realised that one cannot please all the people all of the time which left him much wiser. “You cannot please everybody all the time, be it the politicians or someone else. There will be times when you will face conflicts and there will be times when people will try to unsettle you, but ultimately, you will have to manage it all properly.”
PROJECTS DURING HIS TENURE
During his tenure in Dholpur, Mr. Jaiswal initiated numerous projects that were completed successfully. One of the projects was named ‘Udaan Tara’, a unique adolescent health programme.
This initiative was set up as a platform for nurturing a dialogue on vital adolescent health-related components in classrooms between the teacher and the learner by making it a part of the curriculum. It was the result of a relentless effort of IPE Global Ltd., a consultancy company in the development sector.
This effort to prioritize adolescent needs by incorporating the same through novel education modules, marks Dholpur district as a champion in pioneering adolescent health education in the state as well as the whole country.
“Dholpur is the first district in the whole country where this project is being run on the entire district basis,” he said.
The officer also worked on numerous other successful projects which showed great results, like door-to-door pension distribution, Project Red Cross, self-defence training programme, Indira Rasaoi Yojana, etc.
PEOPLE’S REACTION TO HIS RETIREMENT
When people of Dholpur came to know about his retirement, they showered him with lots of blessings and wishes on social media.
Some of the wishes read as:
“Sir, you have done a lot for the people of Dholpur district. The work you have done is commendable and may not be done by anyone in the coming days and the amount of love you have for the public, it will probably not be possible for anyone. You have preserved Dholpur district like a family. You have taken one thing from Dholpur district and that is the blessings of the poor which everyone doesn’t get.”
“We will always keep you in our heart. People of Dholpur will remember you and your work for years to come for your generosity and for making Dholpur a transformed district.”
Overwhelmed by this spontaneous outpouring of affection, Mr. Jaiswal reacted: “Places change in the path of life and so do the addresses, but Dholpur will always be in my heart. I am taking a lot of affection and blessings from here and leaving a part of me forever in Dholpur.”
