Chennai: Gagandeep Singh Bedi, a senior IAS officer in the rank of Principal Secretary with many years of experience in disaster management, has been posted as the Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation, replacing G Prakash.
Though Bedi is a very senior officer for the role of Corporation Commissioner, it appears that he has been appointed due to the Covid-19 crisis, given his expertise in handling natural disasters like the Tsunami and Cuddalore floods in the past.
In the transfer order, Chief Secretary Irai Anbu has stated that Bedi’s post will be equivalent in status and responsibilities to the cadre post of principal Secretary-cum-commissioner.
The newly appointed commissioner was born in Punjab in 1968 and is an engineer, he has also had a teaching stint.
In 1993, he was selected for the Indian Engineering Services and got a posting in Indian Railways. Subsequently, in 1993, he was selected in the Indian Administrative Services and was allotted the Tamil Nadu cadre.
Following this, he has held several portfolios including – commissioner of the Madurai corporation, assistant collector and collector of Kanyakumari and Cuddalore districts.
Known as a sincere and hardworking official he has received several awards for his work – from the Green award in 2003 and 2004 to a national award in 2016 for implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA).
He was also the Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and was Secretary for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.
Bedi also received applause for his services in flood mitigation during the Cuddalore floods in 2015. He also spearheaded the district’s fight against Tsunami and he was appreciated for handling the crisis efficiently.