Story summary
Among the thousands of civil servants in India, Tukaram Mundhe, 51, has become a notable public figure since taking charge as the commissioner of Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration in May. Since his appointment, he has led multiple enforcement drives, inspecting food businesses and revealing issues like pest infestations, poor hygiene, and expired products. Additionally, Mundhe highlighted significant discrepancies between hospitals' costs for common medical supplies and patient charges. His actions have garnered widespread social media attention, with hundreds of people expressing desire for more officials to tackle similar problems in their regions.
Meanwhile, RS Batth, a district town planner in Gurugram, has also gained recognition by addressing illegal construction and encroachments. The question arises as to why these civil servants are hailed as heroes merely for performing their duties effectively. Civil servants in India manage essential services like document issuance, policing, food safety, and healthcare that people rely on daily.
This heightened public appreciation reflects a broader context where effective governance is increasingly valued amid widespread service delivery challenges across the country.
Written for “Indian Civil Servants Heroism” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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Among the thousands of civil servants who keep India's vast government machinery running, a small number become unlikely public figures every few years.
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number → publish → machinery
The commissioner of Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration, he has led a series of enforcement drives since taking charge in May.
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he → lead → May
His teams have inspected restaurants and other food businesses, uncovering pest infestations, poor hygiene and expired food.
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teams → inspect → infestations
He has also highlighted large gaps between what hospitals pay for common medical supplies and what patients are charged.
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patients → highlight → what
These actions have made Mundhe a social-media celebrity, with videos and images from inspections widely shared online.
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videos → make → inspections
Hundreds of people have commented that they wished officers like him could be sent to fix food safety concerns in their state.
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officers → comment → state
In Gurugram, a suburb of Delhi, district town planner RS Batth has won praise for acting against illegal construction and encroachments.
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Batth → win → construction
But why are these officials treated like heroes for doing their jobs?
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officials → treat → jobs
In India, civil servants are responsible for many services people rely on every day, from issuing documents to policing, food safety and healthcare.
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people → rely → policing
But many are also accused of delays, bribes and making people run from pillar to post.
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people → accuse → post
So when an official appears to cut through the red tape, the response can be surprisingly enthusiastic.
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response → appear → tape
"What should have been normal has become exceptional," says retired civil servant Kamal Kant Jaswal.
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Jaswal → become → ?
For many citizens, delays, bureaucratic hurdles and indifferent treatment have become so familiar that efficient governance now stands out as an exception, he adds.
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he → become → exception
Mundhe is not the first official to gain recognition for doing exactly that.
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Mundhe → gain → that
One of the most prominent examples is TN Seshan, who became a household name as India's chief election commissioner in the 1990s for fearlessly enforcing rules.
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who → become → rules
Kiran Bedi, the first woman to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service, was nicknamed "Crane Bedi" in the early 1980s after it was widely reported that she got an illegally parked car belonging to then prime minister Indira Gandhi towed away (it was removed by a sub-inspector who reported to her, who said years later that she supported, external his decision).
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she → join → decision
Ashok Khemka became nationally known after intervening in a controversial land transaction in 2012, while police officer Neeraj Jadaun was praised for confronting a mob during deadly religious violence in Delhi in 2020.
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Jadaun → become → 2020
These stories have made the idea of the "honest" or "no-nonsense" bureaucrat both familiar and rare.
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idea → make → bureaucrat
Jaswal, however, points out that thousands of officials in India do their jobs without attracting public attention.
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thousands → point → attention
"Their work may not involve much direct contact with citizens, or may simply be less visible."
For ordinary people, however, a visit to a government office is often seen as an exhausting process.
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visit → involve → process
Rajesh Singh, 43, who works at a finance company in Delhi, says he has experienced long waits to get his work done and even longer processes to solve complaints.
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work → work → complaints
"What is supposed to take 24 hours, I have personally experienced being stretched to six months with no guarantee of a positive outcome even then," he says.
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he → suppose → outcome
But an officer praised for enforcing rules can also face criticism for applying them too rigidly without taking into account ground realities.
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officer → praise → realities
Mundhe has been criticised by sections of the food and hospitality industry over his enforcement drives.
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Mundhe → criticise → drives
He has rejected allegations of selective or unlawful action, saying inspections are evidence-driven and licences are suspended only in serious cases.
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licences → reject → cases
Batth, too, has faced flak for acting against illegal encroachments, with critics alleging his enforcement is selective and disproportionately affects vulnerable people.
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enforcement → face → people
In several viral videos, he has said his actions are carried out strictly under town-planning rules.
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actions → say → rules
Jaswal explains a street vendor's stall may be an unauthorised structure in the eyes of the law, but could be a family's only source of income.
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stall → explain → income
And in a country where millions migrate to cities in search of work, unsanctioned living spaces could be the only way to find a place to stay.
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spaces → migrate → place
This tension between the law and economics helps explain why the same enforcement action can be viewed as both lawful and harsh.
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action → explain → law
Bureaucrats also face challenges of their own while carrying out their duties.
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Pushpa Sundar, who briefly served as a civil servant and has written extensively on development issues, says officers can face political pressure and transfers when they refuse to comply with demands.
"They too have families, careers and financial responsibilities and it needs extraordinary courage to risk those things in order to act independently," she says.
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she → serve → things
She argues that officers need stronger institutional support when they refuse to do something illegal or improper.
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they → argue → something
Jaswal remembers facing such pressure himself.
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Jaswal → remember → pressure
In 1974, when he was district magistrate of Uttarkashi in what was then undivided Uttar Pradesh, a senior minister was contesting the state legislature election.
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minister → contest → election
He says he had to turn down a number of demands from the minister as they were against the rules.
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they → say → rules
The minister won the election and Jaswal says he got his "marching orders soon after".
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he → win → orders
But when he left for his next assignment, people stood in the summer heat for several kilometres on his way to say goodbye.
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people → leave → goodbye
The relationship between politicians and civil servants, he says, is rarely straightforward.
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he → say → politicians
Many civil servants who seek desirable postings or rely on political support choose the path of least resistance, while standing up to political pressure entails certain costs, he says.
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he → seek → costs
…and 8 more, not listed.
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