MASCOT Of Disaster Management Gagandeep Singh Bedi, IAS

While finishing his breakfast with his family at Mahabalipuram, the then Collector of Cuddalore had not the faintest inkling that his plate would be full again.

- Sanjay Pinto

Or that he would almost die. But the giant waves of 2004 and the swirling waters upto his shoulders were no match for his steely resolve to rescue people in danger. Drenched to the bone, Gagandeep Singh Bedi and his wife Dr. Jaideep, in true 'thy need is greater than mine' spirit, saved quite a few residents hit by the tsunami. The sight of the district collector in the thick of action, wading through almost neck deep water was an enduring image of the tsunami.

The lesson learnt in disaster management by the rest of India from Tamil Nadu - of having key officials leading by example and from the front, emanated, after all, from a family of academicians. Bedi's father Dr.Tarlochan Singh Bedi was the Principal of a government college in Punjab and his mother Mrs. Darshan Kaur Bedi was also an esteemed Professor. And this Gold Medallist in Electronics and Electrical Engineering too served as a lecturer for a while before joining the Indian Engineering Service, attached to the Signals & Telecom Division of the Railways in 1991. But from his school days in Faridkot, a young Bedi used to observe “how a Deputy Commissioner could influence development of a district. Many of my college mates are CEOs of companies in India and abroad. So it was never about money. I was motivated by what the civil services could do.” So he appeared for the exam and got into the IAS in 1993 with an All India 20th Rank and adjudged the 'Best Allrounder' of his batch.

Throughout his 24 year stint in the IAS, Bedi has always strived to be “above politics.” In politically surcharged Tamil Nadu, where it is easy to get branded or be seen as owing allegiance to the DMK or AIADMK, this officer has only been “fiercely loyal to duty.”