A true son of the soil 

IAS officer P Narahari ready to help Karimnagar get smart tag

Karimnagar: Many may have reached the pinnacle of success, but seldom have they had penchant to give something back to society from where their careers rose. Here’s one such an inspiring story of an IAS officer, who is a son of a tailor, who measured well his career in the soot and dust of Basant Nagar, a township grown around a cement factory, about 50 km north of district headquarters Karimnagar.

Parikipandla Narahari whose grandparents belong to Chintagattu village near Warangal was born and brought up in Basant Nagar after his parents – Satyanarayana and Sarojana - migrated here in search of a livelihood. After his schooling in India Mission Secondary School at Basant Nagar, he completed his Inter in AP Residential Junior College at Nimmakuru in Krishna district and pursued BE in Vasavi Engineering College in Hyderabad. In his second attempt, he secured 78th rank and joined Indian Administrative Services in the Madhya Pradesh cadre in 2001.

His brainchild programme ‘Ladli Laxmi Yojana’, aimed with the objective to lay a firm foundation for girls’ future through improvement in their educational and economic status and to bring about a positive change in social attitude towards birth of a girl child, adopted in toto by Madhya Pradesh government in 2007, has become a source of inspiration for many a state including the united AP government’s Bangaru Thalli.

Central government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme is also said to be derived from the Ladli Laxmi Yojana. His another brainchild, Active Tracker device, aimed at eradicating female foeticide has received Manthan Award under e-health category.

This apart, he also set an example for the whole country by turning Gwalior a barrier-free city by building ramps and railings so as persons with disabilities, senior citizens, especially pregnant women not face any problem in accessing the public places. The effort earned him an award from the India President in 2013.

Satyamev Jayate, a popular television show of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan that discusses and provides possible solutions to address social issues in the country, presented a special episode on Narahari’s efforts. Plantation of 1.35 lakh saplings in a day in and around Gwalior which made it to the India book of Records reflects Narahari’s penchant for greenery. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who identified Narahari’s stint in Gwalior reportedly wanted him in her constituency Indore.

Now he has a huge challenge of transforming Indore in to a Smart City. Responding to a query, Narahari, who visited his hometown on Saturday, told The Hans India: “Ready to work in my home State Telangana if given a chance.” Meanwhile, Karimnagar MP B Vinod Kumar and collector Neetu Prasad had a discussion with Narahari on Saturday on the preparation of a proposal for the Smart Cities contest.

It may be mentioned here that Centre has included Karimnagar city in the Smart Cities Mission recently. The MP said that they will take the guidance of Narahari, who caught the eye of the nation by producing one of the best models in the Smart Cities contest. Municipal Commissioner Krishna Bhaskar said: “The Indore collector invited us to have a look at the proposal and development plan.”

By Adepu Mahender