Tukaram Mundhe responds to Harsh Goenka's praise, says honest public service must be the norm

IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe has responded to industrialist Harsh Goenkarsquos praise for his work against food adulteration and unsafe kitchens saying public service is a collective responsibility and that honesty and accountability should be the norm rather than the exceptionGoenka chairman of RPG Enterprises shared a post on X after meeting Mundhe for the first time He described the bureaucrat as the ldquohero of the eveningrdquo and praised his efforts to take action against food adulteration unsafe kitchens and influential establishmentsldquoI met Tukaram Mundhe for the first time and he was undoubtedly the hero of the evening Everyone wanted to meet himrdquo Goenka wroteGoenka praises Mundhersquos action against unsafe kitchensExplaining the reason behind Mundhersquos popularity the industrialist said ldquoBecause he is doing what citizens expect from their civil servants Taking on food adulteration unsafe kitchens and powerful establishmentsrdquoPublic service is never about an individual It is about a collective commitment to serve citizens with integrity courage and conviction There are countless civil servants across the country who are doing exemplary work perhaps even better than I am but whose efforts rarely receive the recognition they deserve I am only a small part of a much larger team working towards this shared purpose Whatever we achieve is always a collective effort The trust and expectations of citizens are our greatest responsibility An honest accountable and citizencentric public service should never be an exception It must be the norm TukaramMundhe inspiration publicservice Leadershipmdash Tukaram Mundhe Tukaram_IndIAS October 30 2026Goenka also questioned why an officer performing his duties with honesty and determination had become an exceptional figure in the civil servicesldquoIt is remarkable that an officer simply doing his job with honesty and conviction becomes a peoples hero But how badly does this reflect on the larger civil services where such examples are so fewrdquo he askedMundhe says public service is a collective commitmentResponding to the praise Mundhe shifted the focus from himself to the wider civil services saying public service is not about individual achievementsldquoPublic service is never about an individual It is about a collective commitment to serve citizens with integrity courage and convictionrdquo he wroteMundhe also disagreed with the suggestion that officers committed to their duties were few in number He said many civil servants across the country were doing exemplary work but rarely received the attention they deservedldquoThere are countless civil servants across the country who are doing exemplary work perhaps even better than I am but whose efforts rarely receive the recognition they deserverdquo Mundhe saidIAS officer credits team for administrative workMundhe credited his team for the work being carried out stressing that achievements in public administration were the result of collective effortsldquoI am only a small part of a much larger team working towards this shared purpose Whatever we achieve is always a collective effortrdquo he addedHe concluded his response by emphasising the responsibility civil servants have towards citizens and the need for integrity and accountability to be standard practiceldquoThe trust and expectations of citizens are our greatest responsibility An honest accountable and citizencentric public service should never be an exception It must be the normrdquo he wroteExchange highlights expectations from civil servantsThe exchange between Goenka and Mundhe brought attention to public expectations of government officials While Goenka highlighted the IAS officerrsquos work as an example of honest administration Mundhe used the opportunity to acknowledge civil servants who continue to serve without public recognitionGoenkarsquos post also questioned whether the recognition received by an officer for simply performing his duties reflected a wider concern within the civil servicesldquoIt is remarkable that an officer simply doing his job with honesty and conviction becomes a peoplersquos hero But how badly does this reflect on the larger civil services where such examples are so fewrdquo the industrialist asked