Among the thousands of civil servants who keep India's vast government machinery running, a small number become unlikely public figures every few years. The commissioner of Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration, he has led a series of enforcement drives since taking charge in May. His teams have inspected restaurants and other food businesses, uncovering pest infestations, poor hygiene and expired food.
He has also highlighted large gaps between what hospitals pay for common medical supplies and what patients are charged. These actions have made Mundhe a social-media celebrity, with videos and images from inspections widely shared online. Hundreds of people have commented that they wished officers like him could be sent to fix food safety concerns in their state.
In Gurugram, a suburb of Delhi, district town planner RS Batth has won praise for acting against illegal construction and encroachments. But why are these officials treated like heroes for doing their jobs? In India, civil servants are responsible for many services people rely on every day, from issuing documents to policing, food safety and healthcare.
But many are also accused of delays, bribes and making people run from pillar to post. So when an official appears to cut through the red tape, the response can be surprisingly enthusiastic. "What should have been normal has become exceptional," says retired civil servant Kamal Kant Jaswal.
For many citizens, delays, bureaucratic hurdles and indifferent treatment have become so familiar that efficient governance now stands out as an exception, he adds. Mundhe is not the first official to gain recognition for doing exactly 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.
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). 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. These stories have made the idea of the "honest" or "no-nonsense" bureaucrat both familiar and rare.
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