Maj Gen SCN Jatar

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Maj Gen SCN Jatar
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Born (1932-09-03) September 3, 1932 (age 91)
Pune
DiedOctober 23, 2023(2023-10-23) (aged 91)
NationalityIndia
Alma materCollege of Engineering
Occupation
  • Chairman
  • Managing Director of Oil India

Major General Sudhir Chintamani Nilkanth Jatar (September 3, 1932 - October 23, 2023) was a distinguished soldier and former Chairman and Managing Director of Oil India (from 1984 to 1987). He was the former Chairman[1] at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in 1989-90. He was also a social activist, working for the city of Pune

One of his key appointments in the Army was serving on the Expert Committee[2] with Gen K.V. Krishna Rao. This committee was formed by the government to re-organise and modernise the Indian Army.[3]

He was also an instructor at the Nigerian Defense Academy Nigerian Defence Academy from 1969 to 1971.[4]

At Oil India, Jatar was first appointed as the Resident Chief Executive (RCE) in Duliajan, Assam, by Indira Gandhi, to help prevent oil blockages[5] during the Assam agitation. Later, he became the CMD.

On 15 February 2001, he was appointed[6] by the government to probe a fire at Bombay High.[7] There was another fire (suspected sabotage), at ONGC's Gandhar oilfield on 30th October, and a committee was set up with Jatar heading it,[8] to study security measures for ONGC's oil and gas pipeline and the committee was also to look into ONGC's emergency response capabilities and recommend suitable upgradation.

After retirement, Jatar became a social and civic activist.[9] He fought against corruption[5]and was the face of civic activism[10] in Pune.

As a social and civic activist, he headed the Nagarik Chetna Manch[11] for many years, and using this as a platform fought for several social causes. One of his achievements was to save vetal tekdi from vested interests and illegal construction.[12] In 2006, he filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court due to which a formal stay on the construction saved the hills.[13] As a representative of Nagrik Chetna Manch, he opposed the Balbharati-Paud link road due to environmental concerns.[14] Jatar filed a PIL against this road. Although the PIL was dismissed by the High Court, the high court asked the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to carry out an environmental study as well as a traffic-related study before going ahead with the road. Accordingly, the PMC instituted a committee for this purpose in 2019.

A Public Commission of Inquiry (PCI), headed by former Supreme Court judge PB Sawant, was formed by Nagrik Chetna Manch (NCM) and Surajya Sangharsh Samiti (SSS) in October 2010. The PCI was formed to study the causes of the unauthorised construction and encroachments proliferating in Pune city and to suggest remedies.[15]

Jatar also fought the PMC[16] to prevent corruption[17] in waste management.[18] As a RTI activist, he was always on alert for mismanagement in the PMC, like in the instance of water scarcity in the city.[19]Illegal connections and leakages were the main cause of water scarcity in Pune, according to his findings. Along with other social activists like Vijay Kumbhar, Vivek Velankar and Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe, Jatar alleged that the PMC had a nexus with the water tanker operators, builders, politicians and the civic staff to divert processed municipal water.[20]

As a representative of Nagrik Chetna Manch he supported and signed a petition opposing a PMPML bus fare hike at a meet of PMPML commuters.[21]

In 2013, Jatar was part of a group of RTI activists who lodged a complaint against six political parties with the Chief Central Information Commissioner (CCIC),[22] for non-compliance by political parties of the commission's order to appoint Public Information Officers (PIO's) and Appellate Authorities (AA's), to improve transparency in governance. Here is a Part 1[23] and Part 2[24] of the interview with Goa-based List of Konkani-language television channels, on his fight to bring more transparency in governance through the RTI Act. Jatar always felt passionately about transparency in government and even before the Right to Information Act was passed, he used the Maharashtra RTI Act, in 2003,[25] to expose the misuse of official cars by the elected representatives at the Pune Municipal Corporation.[26]

Jatar was also one of the commissioners of the Indian People's Tribunal in 2015,[27] to prevent the Mumbai Municipal Corporation from building a coast road along the western seafront of Greater Mumbai from Kandivali to Nariman Point due to environmental concerns.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Pune, he emphasised the need for feasibility reports before any project.[28] Here, he talks about the high capacity mass transit route (HCMTR) project, for Pune city, the HCMTR project.[29] He was also sceptical[30] of the proposed bus rapid transit system (BRTS) without a feasibility study.[31]

He was involved in helping Pune city carve out parking zones,[32] which resulted in the P1/P2 system[33] of parking in Pune.

As a representative of Nagrik Chetna Manch, Jatar filed a complaint in 2018, with the Prime Minister's office, regarding the tendering process for street LED lighting in Pune.[34]

He was also one of the social activists, in 2017-18, who attempted to prevent the Aadhar card being made compulsory for all residents of India.[35]Through the Nagrik Chetna Manch a petition was filed in the Supreme Court to address the privacy and security concerns of Aadhar.[36]

Jatar ran a family trust called Smt.Vimalabai Nilkanth Jatar Charitable Trust, in his mother's name. Through this trust he helped several causes. One such instance is of the sponsorship of the training of government bus drivers of PMPL, in Pune, by providing the necessary funds to the Institute of Driving Training and Research (ITDR),[37] a road safety initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. He also funded the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) for the indexing of their Mahabharata project.[38] This Trust has also funded the education of scores of needy students and also helped organisations like Swachh Bharat Mission for the education of rag pickers' children.

Early Life and Education

Sudhir was born in Pune, on 3 September 1932. He was the youngest child of Lt. Col (Sir) Nilkanth Jatar of the Indian Medical Service and Smt. Vimalabai Jatar, née Dixit. He was one of 8 siblings. He completed his education in Pune and graduated from the College of Engineering, Pune before joining the Indian Army.

Personal Life

He was married at the age of 26 to Sarala Jatar, the daughter of Sardar Raghavendra Purandare and has two children, a daughter, Nita Jatar Kulkarni, and a son, Nilkanth Sudhir Jatar.

Death

Sudhir Jatar was ailing after a bout of Covid during the Delta wave, in Pune. He recovered at home, but the weakness from his illness persisted. He passed away due to old age related issues on 23 October 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Former Chairman". Scope.
  2. ↑ "Major General Jathar Passes Away At 91". Free Press Journal. 24 Oct 2023.
  3. ↑ "Former Army Chief Gen KV Krishna Rao Dies". NDTV. 30 Jan 2016.
  4. ↑ "CADET BRIGADE COMMANDER CHRONICLE OF COMMAND". Nigerian Defense Academy.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "With focus and perseverance he fought graft". Hindustan Times. 25 Oct 2023.
  6. ↑ "Probe Into Bombay High Fire". Petrowatch. 5 PW 1. 28 Feb 2001.
  7. ↑ "Two dead in Bombay High Fire". 15 Feb 2001.
  8. ↑ "Naik Orders Probe into Gandhar Fire". Times of India. 20 Nov 2001.
  9. ↑ "Army man, Activist Maj Gen Sudhir Jatar dies at 91". Indian Express. 24 Oct 2023.
  10. ↑ "Maj Gen SCN Jatar: An Unsung Hero". Rediff.com. 25 Oct 2023.
  11. ↑ "Maj Gen Sudhir Jathar passes away". Lokmat. 24 Oct 2023.
  12. ↑ "A love story - 1982- 2023". Pune Times Mirror. 1 Apr 2023.
  13. ↑ "Maj Gen SCN (Sudhir) Jatar is no more". MoneyLife. 25 Oct 2023.
  14. ↑ "35 years later, work on Balbharati-Paud link road likely to begin". Hindustan Times. 22 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "Encroachments, illegal constructions plague Pune city". DNA. 16 Nov 2014.
  16. ↑ "Case No. 50 of 2015" (PDF). Competition Commission of India. 1 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "Maj Gen SCN Jatar vs Municipal Corporation". Casemine. Casemine. Retrieved 3 Feb 2022.
  18. ↑ "Case Details". National Green Tribunal.
  19. ↑ "Pune water crisis: 'Fix illegal connections, leakages'". DNA India. 16 Nov 2014.
  20. ↑ "HT Investigation: Pune's water mafia exposed in a ₹100 crore a year thriving racket". Hindustan Times. 19 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Pune residents, NGOs driving a plan to oppose PMPML bus fare hike". Hindustan Times. 29 Oct 2019.
  22. ↑ "RTI Activists seek action against six parties". Times of India. 17 Jul 2013.
  23. ↑ "Prudent Media Gazali with Maj Gen SCN Jatar". No. Part 1. Prudent Media, Goa. 23 Apr 2013.
  24. ↑ "Prudent Media Gazali with Maj. Gen .Sudhir C. N. Jatar". Prudent Media, Goa. 23 Apr 2013.
  25. ↑ "Operation Clean-Up". Indian Express. 27 Jan 2007.
  26. ↑ "Look where the Mayor's care is taking her" (PDF). Express News Service. Retrieved 24 Feb 2004.
  27. ↑ "Report of the Independent People's Tribunal on Mumbai's Coast Road" (PDF). Independent People's Tribunal. 1 Mar 1016.
  28. ↑ "Pre-feasibility analysis of project must to decode its effectiveness, says Maj Gen SCN Jatar (retd)". Hindustan Times. 20 Jan 2020.
  29. ↑ "High capacity mass transit route (HCMTR) project, Pune". pmc. Pune Municipal Corporation.
  30. ↑ "Dedicated bus lanes on Pune's roads depends on political will". DNA. 30 Mar 2011.
  31. ↑ "After 10 years Pune Municipal Corporation to redesign Bus route". Times of India. 26 Oct 2016.
  32. ↑ "Maj Gen SCN Jatar fought for the truth...changed parking in city". Times Citizen. Times of India. Retrieved 30 Oct 2023.
  33. ↑ "Public Parking Policy 2016" (PDF). Pune Municipal Corporation. 15 Jan 2016.
  34. ↑ "Pune Civic Body's ₹16 Cr LED Street Light Project under Fire". Hindustan Times. 9 May 2018.
  35. ↑ "Who Is Running the 'Orchestrated Wine And Cheese Campaign' Against Aadhaar in the SC?". The Wire. 18 Jan 2018.
  36. ↑ "Supreme Court to hear petition of Nagrik Chetna Manch on January 17". Times of India. 6 Jan 2018.
  37. ↑ "Residential upliftment training to PMPML Clerks and non-residential upliftment training to PMPML drivers/checkers". ITDR - Institute of Driving Training and Research. ITDR. Retrieved 15 Nov 2020.
  38. ↑ "Mahabharata- Cultural Index (Volume Three, Fascicule 3)". Exotic India. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

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