IAS Officer Tina Dabi bowed Once. Then twice. Then a third time. Repeated it for a fourth time. And a fifth time. All this in a span of seven seconds. She was seen greeting BJP leader Satish Poonia, former Rajasthan BJP state president.

The young officer’s effusive gestures have raised a debate over propriety and politician-bureaucrat dynamics.

In a video that is viral, a convoy of white SUVs comes to a halt. A security officer dashes to the front, opens the door for Mr Poonia, seated in the front; he steps out while speaking to someone on his mobile, shows the undated video.

Tina Dabi, who took over as District Collector of Barmer in Rajasthan last month, waits to greet the leader. Even as Mr Poonia is still checking his phone, the IAS officer bows and greets the leader, five times in seven seconds, shows the video.

“Thank you. Thank you. Tina Dabi accha kaam kar rahi hai, safai karwa rahi hai, dustbin lagwa rahi hai (Tina Dabi is doing good work. Is getting the cleaning done, getting the dustbins installed),” says Mr Poonia, showering praise on the officer who is often on trending lists.

Mr Poonia surveys the scene, puts his phone back into his kurta pocket, and turns to the officer. “Dadaigiri kar rahe ho (You are bullying),” he jokes, then adds, “Lekin achha kaam kar rahe ho (But you are doing good work). Barmer will also become like Indore. You are doing a good job.”

Tina Dabi is seen greeting the leader with folded hands, three times in quick succession.

Mr Poonia greets the others present and moves ahead.

Tina Dabi, whose wedding to fellow IAS officer Pradeep Gawande made headlines in 2023, has started an innovative initiative – “Navo Barmer”- meaning new Barmer.

Under the initiative, cleanliness campaigns are being run in the city using new-age technology.

Barmer:

Tina Dabi, one of India’s most popular civil services officers, was posted as the district collector of Rajasthan’s Barmer last month. Since her new appointment, she has been in action mode – she is sometimes seen sweeping roads as part of a cleanliness campaign initiated by her and sometimes reprimanding doctors who were found to be negligent during hospital inspections. All these actions happened on camera and the videos garnered a lot of traction on social media.

This morning, Ms Dabi raided a spa centre, which was reportedly a front for an alleged sex racket.

What Led To The Raid

A cleaning campaign was underway near the Sadar police station area when all of a sudden Tina Dabi arrived for a surprise inspection. During the inspection, she noticed a spa centre whose doors were locked from inside. She asked the officials to open these doors. But even after knocking several times, no one opened the door.

Suspicious by then, some policemen entered the spa centre through the roof while others broke the door and entered inside. There were many rooms inside the spa centre, in which five girls and two men were found in objectionable conditions, police said. Sadar police station took all of them into custody on suspicion of prostitution and all of them are being questioned.

The raid was captured on camera and videos showed several women, trying to cover their faces, and men inside the alleged spa facility.

‘Unethical Practices’ In Spa Centres?

There are several spa centres in Barmer city and locals have been complaining to the administration about many of these, alleging the centres are involved in unethical practices. But, today’s raid is the first effective action by the police.

As per people in the know of the matter, the people who run these centres get a license issued from the Labor Department. After this, they bring girls from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Nepal and run a prostitution business under the guise of spa centres. The police have taken action against these illegal spa centres several times but due to lack of sustained action, these people get back to these practices again after being released on bail.

Tina Dabi, whose wedding to fellow IAS officer Pradeep Gawande made headlines in 2023, has started an innovative initiative – “Navo Barmer”- meaning new Barmer. Under the initiative, cleanliness campaigns are being run in the city using new-age technology.

IAS officer Tina Dabi is again in the spotlight after her reaction to a woman sarpanch’s speech went viral. The village head’s fluent English astonished the civil servant at a function in Rajasthan’s Barmer where she was invited as a guest of honour, suggest reports. Ms Dabi was recently posted as the District Collector of Barmer.

Sarpanch Sonu Kanwar, wearing traditional Rajasthani attire, stood on the dais and welcomed the Collector, showed the viral video.

“I am glad to be part of this day. First of all, I welcome our collector Tina ma’am. Being a woman, it’s an honour to welcome Tina ma’am,” she was heard saying at the function. She went on to speak about water conservation. Her speech was followed by a round of applause from the crowd as well as Ms Dabi as her impressive language skills left everyone astonished.

बाड़मेर में IAS टीना डाबी @dabi_tina के सामने जब राजपूती पोशाक और घूँघट में जालीपा महिला सरपंच सोनू कँवर ने जब अपना उद्बोधन अंग्रेज़ी से शुरू किया तो उपस्थित सब लोग चौंक गए और टीना डाबी के चेहरे की मुस्कान बयां कर रही है l..
जिला कलेक्टर खुद को ताली बजाने से नही रोक पाए pic.twitter.com/fLYuo0gqJo

— Kailash Singh Sodha (@KailashSodha_94) September 14, 2024

Ms Dabi had first grabbed headlines after topping the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exam in 2015 on her first attempt. Her administrative journey began in Ajmer where she was posted as an Assistant Collector. Her younger sister Ria Dabi also cracked UPSC in 2020 with an all-India rank of 15.

Tina Dabi was serving as the Commissioner of the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Jaipur before being transferred to Barmer as the District Collector earlier this month. She has earlier served as the District Collector of Jaisalmer. Her husband, Pradeep Gawande, who was posted in Bikaner, was transferred to Jalore as the part of the latest reshuffle.

Jaipur:

The Rajasthan government has effected a major bureaucratic reshuffle – including assigning four women with strong track records and a clean image to head critical departments, such as urban development for capital city Jaipur, which will host a major investors in early December.

The changes indicate that Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma – a surprise pick by the ruling BJP to replace Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot after last year’s election – has bedded into his new role.

The message, sources told NDTV, is that this government “is not taking timid steps”.

The changes also come after a dig by Mr Gehlot, who said the IAS officers running his Congress government were also running that of the BJP.

The ‘big four’ postings are Anandi, who will now head the Jaipur Development Authority; Arti Dogra, who is the new Chairperson of the state’s electricity discoms; Gayatri Rathore, who will take charge as Health Secretary; and Shuchi Tyagi, who will be the Transport Commissioner.

The four women take charge at crucial junctures for each government body.

The Jaipur Development Authority was raided by the state anti-corruption bureau last month, after which several officers were arrested and over 100 transferred. The JDA faces a major challenge in getting the city ready for the investors’ summit, particularly after the monsoons.

Sustained electricity supply and reliable public transportation will also be in the spotlight during the summit, underlining expectations against Ms Dogra and Ms Tyagi.

And, following heavy rains and flooding, fears of vector-borne diseases will mean Ms Rathore, who was earlier the Tourism Secretary, will have her hands full.

Overall, 108 IAS officers have been shuffled around, also including eight new Collectors for Jaipur, one of whom is Jitendra Soni, who received plaudits for his work during the Jalore floods and for a programme to give shoes to children in the district.

Also, the state’s Jal Jeevan Mission, which was under scrutiny over alleged financial irregularities during the previous government, has been given a new chief – Bhasker Sawant.

Among other transfers is a new Collector for Barmer – Tina Dabi, the high-profile bureaucrat whose wedding to fellow IAS officer Pradeep Gawande last year made headlines.

Ms Dabi rose to fame in 2015 as the first Dalit to top the competitive Civil Services examination. She was earlier the District Collector for Jaisalmer.