'Before 2019, my son had to change school every year': Maharashtra FDA boss Tukaram Mundhe of 25 transfers in 21 years

BT India @ 100: Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has built a reputation for taking on challenging assignments, despite being transferred 25 times in a 21-year career. On Friday, Mundhe reflected on the experiences and lessons that came with a career marked by frequent transfers.

Mundhe said in an interaction with India Today's Preeti Choudhry at Business Today's India @ 100 Summit that it is the government which decides when and where they have to post him.

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"If it is a personal cost, because I was voluntary, I was not forced to come into this service. I chose this service, so I abide by all the rules, whether I agree or do not agree. Now, whether it's a personal cost, yes, there are difficulties in it," he said.

He added that even though he abided by the rules of the service, it was challenging for his family, to say the least. He mentioned that his son had to change schools every year till his family came to Mumbai.

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"Yes, that was the thinking till we came to Mumbai. Before that, my son had to change school every year, till he came to the fifth standard in Mumbai when I was shifted in 2019, I believe. After that, they have been staying, so they are happy after that because he can make friends in the school, one school."

He said that his son was unable to make friends as he did his senior KG in Mumbai, then went on to Solapur, Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and then back to Mumbai. Mundhe said that repeated transfers also had an effect on his wife.

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"It does affect family. It affected my better half also because when we started, started working, and then immediately I got transferred, so that has also to be changed. So it affects. But then the question is, if I want to be a public servant, if I have decided that this is my role and this I have taken the path, the way I have taken, so whatever comes with it, we have to take it. We cannot expect cake and eat it too."

Asked about his shortest tenure as an officer, Tukaram Mundhe said that he has also been posted out before joining and that such instances have happened with him "multiple times". When asked where this happened and whether he would discuss those cases, “I don't like to discuss that issue at all. I mean, that's not an issue to be discussed,” he said.

Watch the full conversation here