They also serve who only stand and wait

The profound last line of the poem ‘On His Blindness’ by John Milton goes like this: “They also serve who only stand and wait”. Aside from the deep spiritual meaning it conveys through the great poet’s failing eyesight, one can discern temporal examples of the cardinal virtue of patience in an administrator who is willing to wait for his turn to serve until things are ‘right’ for him to do only what is right. The return of Adwait Kumar Singh to his parent cadre – Telangana — is seen in this light, not just as a testament to the Congress government’s preference for IAS officials who can function with credibility and integrity amid intense and intimidating political pressure. The Central government has granted premature repatriation of Adwait Kumar Singh, a 2013 batch IAS officer, to the Telangana cadre. Citing personal reasons, Singh, who has been serving as a Deputy Secretary in the Union Ministry of Family and Welfare, is returning to his parent cadre. A little bird told us that this government is undoubtedly going by merit when it comes to appointments at key levels and so the cream of officials want to return. For newbies, Adwait had served as the Additional Commissioner in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. He was sidelined following his rift with a powerful politician belonging to the then ruling party. He chose to go on central deputation. Meanwhile, his batch mates became Collectors. Adwait had to wait for something better. What if he could not do collectorship meanwhile?