TRIBUTE
John Wooden, the greatest NCAA Basketball head coach wrote, “Being a Role Model is the most powerful form of educating.” Kashmir’s first Muslim IAS Officer, Mohammad Shafi Pandit lived up to this famous quote and exemplified a constant selfless public service with a clear set of values that will continue to inspire.
In the winter of 2010, I took the UPSC Scholarship Test at Sri Pratap College, Srinagar conducted by the ASCENT GROUP under the mentorship of Shafi Sir. I was bolstered to study for the UPSC Exam after appearing recently in the JKAS Interview. The post-scholarship Test interaction with young aspirants by Shafi Sir increased the sense of hope of qualifying for the toughest exam in the country. I was one amongst the group of 10 aspirants who got selected for Residential Civil Services coaching at Hajj House, Jammu by the ASCENT Group.
I left the valley while working as a House Surgeon in the Department of Orthopaedics, Bone and Joint Hospital, Srinagar, and enrolled in the Residential Coaching program under the guidance of Shafi Sir. It was a life-changing experience for me, where he invested his time and energy in bringing the best of civil servants to deliver lectures and motivational speeches to us. However, my stay at Hajj House, Jammu ended shortly after I got selected for JKAS in 2011. I continued to visit ASCENT GROUP at Srinagar for guiding young aspirants on public holidays and every interaction with Shafi Sir would resonate closely with my dream of cracking the UPSC Civil Services Exam.
Shafi Sir had started his career as a lecturer of Geology at the Amar Singh College and he cracked the IAS Exam with All India Fifth Rank thus becoming the first Muslim IAS Officer from the Kashmir region. During his monumental public service, he held coveted positions as Deputy Commissioner of District Doda, Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare at the Centre, Additional Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir and Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission. A postgraduate in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota, USA, Shafi Sir’s introduction of “Single Line Administration” during his tenure as Deputy Commissioner of District Doda continues to remain a model of the Administrative Reforms in the history of Public Service of India.
It was an administrative approach to bring all Governmental Departments in the district on one board to reduce the delays in decision-making and expedite government projects and services. As Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, his initiatives towards the regulation of extravagance at weddings and price control of markets won him accolades in the region. He was instrumental in getting the Mandal Commission Report on affirmative action published as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of India. As Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission from 2004 to 2009, he ensured unbiased selection of candidates based on merit.
Shafi Sir continued to serve people after his retirement with zeal and took on pivotal roles in civil society. His bereaved wife, Nighat Shafi Pandit is the chairperson of the HELP (Human Effort for Love and Peace) Foundation. The foundation supports destitute women and orphan children who have been victims of conflict in Kashmir since 1997 and Shafi Sir actively supported his wife in this noble cause. During my stay at the YMCA Youth Hostel, New Delhi to appear in the UPSC Exam Interview in 2016, I was in awe when I saw the wall poster at its reception depicting Shafi Sir as the elected President of Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI). He was also the President of the Central Government Pensioner’s Welfare Association, Kashmir.
My father being one of the members of CGPWA would discuss with me at length the welfare initiatives taken up by him for the Pensioners. Such was the monumental achievements of Mohammad Shafi Pandit that the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paid tribute to him, “I have come to know Kashmir’s pride and first (Muslim) IAS officer Mohammad Shafi Pandit has passed away. He was working for the benefit of society even after retirement. In this hour of grief, we are with his family,”
Shafi Sir was a beacon of hope whose gentle voice and towering personality were unmatched for a civil servant. He was an active listener who clearly communicated his thoughts and passionately worked towards the empowerment of others. He shall remain the epitome of success and empathy for generations to come.
(Author is currently posted as Deputy Commissioner Income Tax Jammu. Feedback: [email protected])
