As Transit Fans Celebrate Ashwini Bhide’s Return, Let Us Not Forget Shrikar Paradeshi, Who Turned Around PMPML’s Fortunes

Transit fans of Maharashtra in the last one week have been celebrating for multiple reasons. The first was the obvious one, with former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis returning to power, although some of us (me included) are disappointed that he’s Deputy CM and not the CM. The second, was the return of Ashwini Bhide to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), as well as the government’s focus on finishing the project with the depot at the Aarey Milk Colony (it’s not a forest). While the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government has also cleared all hurdles for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor, another small but significant development has gone unchanged.

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dr Shrikar Paradeshi has been appointed as a Secretary to the Deputy CM’s office.

Who is Dr Shrikar Paradeshi?

A 2001-batch IAS officer, Shrikar Paradeshi has held numerous posts in the past. He was the Municipal Commissioner of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corportation from 2012 to 2014 where he earned the nickname ‘Demolition Man‘ for razing down illegally-constructed structures. He was also briefly the managing director (MD) of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML). During his tenure at PCMC, he introduced Sarathi — (System of Assisting Residents and Tourists through Helpline Information). However, he proved to be too efficient, leading to his transfer to the State Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps by the then Prithviraj Chavan-led government.

Paradeshi was subsequently appointed MD of PMPML again before he was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Post this, he did his master’s in public administration from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was then posted as MD of Maharashtra-based SICOM for a month in 2021. Post this, he went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland to do a master’s in public health.

Dr Paradeshi and the PMPML

Dr Paradeshi’s first stint in the PMPML was in July 2013 when he took two key decisions. The first was to rationalise all bus fares into multiples of ₹5 in order to plug revenue leakages and solve the issue of spare change. He focused on repairing buses and had officials visit different bus depots to ensure that buses departed on time.

His second innings with the PMPML began in December 2014 after eight NGOs approached chief minister Fadnavis with a demand for a “competent and result-oriented” IAS officer to lead the organisation. After taking charge, he began the process of getting the city’s bus fleet fully operational. There were around 160 buses that were lying in various depots that required repairs but weren’t, for want of funds. He had the PMPML set up a separate bank account that would deposit 6 per cent of daily revenues which would go towards repairing buses and managed to get to improve the functional fleet from 60 per cent to 75 per cent in three months.

In a public interaction, he stated his plans to set up a new website, proposed a mobile app and announced goals and targets for revenue collections, passengers and even advertisements.

Sadly, he ended up getting called to the Prime Minister’s office in April 2015.

If you are stepping out, do note that while masks are no longer mandatory, please stay safe, better safe than sorry.