Tahsildar leads from the front, carries poll boxes to strongroom

Mangaluru: A tahsildar, who joined his colleagues in shifting 58 trunks containing poll material to the strong room, has won accolades from his seniors and subordinates. The strong room was located on the second floor of NIT-K, Surathkal. A 2014-batch KAS officer, Ganapathi Shastry, is the Belthangady tahsildar.
“This was not done for any publicity. Being an ex-serviceman, I believe that I have to be in the forefront of all work. When my men are working, I cannot be sitting idle. In armed forces, we lead from the front. If a bullet comes, it has to hit me first—this is our policy and I have been working on the same lines,” he said.

He helped in loading and unloading at Belthangady a day before polls and after polls. “We began election work on April 17 at 6am and we completed it by April 19 at 9am. When everyone is working, it does not look good to keep bossing around. The men may feel that the officer does not know what they are going through. When I join hands, there is a bond of understanding and we managed to finish everything within 90 minutes. Shifting 58 boxes containing Ballot Unit and Control Units and and 248 VVPATS to the strong room located on the second floor with no lifts, is not easy,” he said.

After serving the Navy for 15 years (1996-2011) Ganapathi worked with India Post from 2011- 2017. He hails from Kekkar village of Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district.Dakshina Kannada DC S Sasikanth Senthil said: “He is a good officer and an ex-serviceman. It is good to see him having leading from the front.”