Q&A with IAS Jalaj Sharma: ‘Will ensure development works through proper policy implementation’
IAS Jalaj Sharma, the then Dhule District Collector, waits in queue to cast his ballot for the Nashik Graduate Constituency (MLC seat) elections on January 30, 2023.
Despite being a rainy day, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Jalaj Sharma since today morning was busy collecting his essentials to travel to a new destination and was getting himself ready for a new role. Until yesterday, he was Dhule District Collector and the news of his transfer came in.
He has been assigned a new task of Nashik District Collector in place of IAS Gangatharan D who is now going to Mumbai as Joint Municipal Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). In spite of having a tight schedule, as he was preparing to leave for Nashik, IAS Jalaj Sharma obliged for a telephonic interview with the Founder and Editor-In-Chief, Ashfaque Ismail. Excerpts;
Q: At the very beginning let me start with this question. So far, how good or bad the journey has been in the civil services? Could you tell our readers how and when you started your stint as an administrator?
And: The journey in the public life has been quite satisfactory. At the start of my career in the civil services I was not the part of the pan-India IAS cadre. I was an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Officer back then. I cleared the IRS exams in 2011 and after bagging a selection was posted as Assistant Commissioner, Central Excise and Customs. In that capacity there I worked for three years till 2014. At that time I had my duty in the then Mysore (Mysuru). So this is how I started my journey in the civil services.
Born and brought up in Haryana, I studied in Chandigarh. I am likely to take charge either today or tomorrow, IAS Jalaj Sharma, new Nashik Collector
IAS Jalaj Sharma ranked at number 43rd in the 2014 UPSC exams. (Pic courtesy DGIPR/Vilas Bodke)
Q: Then how did the pan-India IAS come your way?
Ans: Even though I already had a government job in my hands, I was not content with it. My dreams were much bigger. I was looking for something which had been my dream to be fulfilled since, what you may say, my school days. I was working as an IRS officer since 2011 and at the same time preparing for the IAS papers.
Q: Could you tell us about your postings as an IAS officer?
Ans: After I cleared the Union Public Service (UPSC) exams in 2014 I was assigned the IAS cadre as my all-India rank was 43rd. After that I was an intern at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie for two years. When I came out of the academy in 2016 I was posted as Assistant Collector, Jalgaon.
Q: And after that, could you throw some more light?
Ans: For one year I served as Assistant Collector, Jalgaon (Integrated Tribal Development Project) then was moved to Yavatmal as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zilla Parishad. There I was for three years from 2017 to 2020. During 2020-2021 I was posted as Additional Municipal Commissioner, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). And then was promoted to a district magistrate rank back in 2021 and was moved to Dhule as district collector. And now have been assigned this new task.
Q: As Nashik District Collector, what your plans would be as far as development of the district was concerned?
Ans: Nashik counts itself among the one of the few biggest districts in Maharashtra. Then we have Malegaon which is the second largest city after Nashik itself in the district. I have a decent knowledge about the textile town. Malegaon has been a focal point for every administrative head in Nashik given its demography and the prevailing politically charged atmosphere.
As an overall head of the district my priority will be a proper implementation of policy measures of the government. And, secondly I will ensure that all the government schemes and the benefits of development projects percolate right down to the lowest stratum of society.
