Jogi was fine administrator, recall his former colleagues

Former colleagues of Ajit Jogi, who was once the collector of Indore before he entered politics, remembered him as an able administrator after hearing the news of his death. Jogi, 74, died at a hospital in Raipur on Friday.

"As IAS probationer when I was posted in Indore as deputy collector, Jogi was district magistrate. I have learnt a lot from him as he was an able administrator and a man with an all-rounder personality," said Renu Pant, a former IAS officer. "He was good at communicating with people and resolved many issues just through discussion," she recalled.

"Jogi had the zeal for looking into minutest detail. Many times he even pointed out spelling mistakes in files and asked us to correct them," Pant added.

Another former colleague, Nirmal Upadhyaya, recalled that Jogi was a good horse-rider. "After getting up early in the morning, he used to patrol the city on horseback. He used to reach office by 9 AM and remain glued to the official work till late night," said Upadhyaya who was posted as a naib tehsildar then.

"Once fire engulfed a petrol pump in a densely populated area and Jogi, like an ordinary fireman, held the hose of fire-tender to douse the flames and remained there till the fire was completely extinguished," Upadhyaya recalled. "He was completely drenched in the process," he added.

PTI HWP MAS KRK KRK.