CHENNAI: Amit Kataria is being ribbed mercilessly by his batchmates. This 2004-batch IAS officer and Collector of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh, is being told to wear his sunglasses at the back of his collar, a la Bollywood star Salman Khan, instead of on his nose.

“Poor Amit is getting ragged in our group of friends,” laughed an IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre who did not wish to be named. “He is begging for mercy,” he said.

Kataria, 35, is not just the butt of jokes but also the subject of a hot debate on social media. On a searing summer day on May 9, Bastar Collector and District Magistrate (DM) Amit Kataria greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrived in Chhattisgarh for a series of project inaugurations. Kataria greeted a smiling Modi and shook his hand. The same routine was repeated when PM Modi took off from Bastar that evening. Five days later, Kataria received a notice from the state government warning him for disobeying protocol by not wearing a “bandhgala” coat (closed-neck coat) and for wearing sunglasses as he greeted the Prime Minister.

“It has come to the notice of the government that you were not in formal attire when you received the Prime Minister and that you received him while wearing sunglasses,” said the letter. Apart from Kataria, Devsenapathi, collector of Dantewada district too was warned for not being dressed in formal attire.

Although Chief Minister Raman Singh later clarified that no action would be initiated against Kataria and that only a notice had been sent, the picture went viral online and became a topic of much discussion.

Local media reports also suggested that the Prime Minister had called him a ‘Dabangg’ (fearless) Collector – a reference to a Bollywood movie by the same name, as he was working in an area prone to Naxal attacks. Kataria’s friends say he denies this happened.

Kataria’s batchmates agree that he is a “cool guy” and always ready with a laugh. More astonishing is the fact that Kataria is considered one of the “blue-eyed” boys of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

“He was hand-picked by the Chief Minister to set up the ambitious Naya Raipur (New Raipur) project,” said another batchmate. “It is a brand new high-tech modern city, aimed at beating other Indian cities like Chandigarh and Gandhinagar in terms of infrastructure and planning. He had performed so well as Commissioner of the Raipur Corporation in 2009-10 that he was picked for this post. He cleaned up Raipur with a no-nonsense approach, widening roads and improving infrastructure,” he said.

Between 2013 to 2015, Kataria was the Chief Executive Officer of the Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) and shone in his efforts to build a Rs 790 crore mega capital for the state.

Kataria was also noticed by the Chief Minister in his role as Collector of Raigad, a district notorious for frequent attacks by armed left-wing extremists, the Maoists. “It is a very challenging post,” said Kataria’s batchmate. “He used to talk about how he handled difficulties in land acquisition as there was a lot of industrialization taking place. He had to tread lightly on many sensitive issues and he delivered,” he said.

In 2013, when the Chief Minister arrived with his then party president, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajnath Singh (now the Union Home Minister), to inaugurate the Kelo dam in Raigad, the affection for Kataria was evident. “Some of these projects which were initially progressing very slowly have now been completed, thanks to the efforts of Mr Kataria,” said Chief Minister Singh to the gathered audience. This was not the first time Singh had lavished praise on his “blue-eyed boy”.

This is why the notice sent to Kataria caused some consternation amongst his colleagues. “Both Amit and I were shocked when the notice came,” said a friend of Kataria’s. “He had been at the venue since 6am that morning ensuring that all arrangements were proper. It was terribly hot and he had left his ‘bandhgala’ in his car. He told me that he did not have enough time to put it on as things were too hectic,” he said. But in a service still steeped in British tradition, sunglasses and a formal shirt simply did not cut it with his seniors.

“What the Chhattisgarh government has done is wrong because the Collector’s action does not attract the All India Services Rules Section that is quoted,” said retired IAS officer MG Devasahayam. “However, there is a convention that the chief official receiving the President or Prime Minister on an official visit should be formally attired. Unless he had an eye problem, wearing sunglasses was improper. Being a young officer perhaps he did not know this and could have sought advice from his seniors. Nevertheless, this is much ado about nothing. At best the Chief Secretary could have called him and admonished him. There was no need to make a song and dance about it,” he said.

Kataria though has learnt his lesson well. “Amit says he will never leave the house without his ‘bandhgala’ again and will definitely leave his sunglasses behind next time,” chuckled his batchmate.

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