A Startup ‘Mahakumbh’ With states competing to strengthen their startup ecosystems, Gujarat has decided to step up efforts to attract young entrepreneurs. A Startup Mahakumbh will be organised on 10 January at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2027. At a time when Gen Z, youth employment, entrepreneurship, and innovation are gaining prominence in the national discourse, the state administration is preparing to build momentum around its startup ecosystem. Successful startup founders from across the country will be invited, with the aim of promoting a stronger startup culture in Gujarat. The strategy is to attract young innovators alongside investors to the Vibrant Gujarat platform. However, the numbers present an interesting challenge. According to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), India has 2,40,092 DPIIT-recognised startups, of which Gujarat accounts for 21,019. Maharashtra leads the country with 41,440 startups, followed by Karnataka with 24,026, Uttar Pradesh with 23,678, and Delhi with 22,336. While Gujarat has established a significant startup base, it is yet to produce a single company that has achieved unicorn status. Ahmedabad To Spain, For Tapas Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Banchha Nidhi Pani is on a visit to Spain, attending events in the city of Valladolid. The 20th anniversary of the Sister City Agreement between Ahmedabad and Valladolid has offered him an opportunity to make his presence felt on the international stage. To ensure that administrative work does not suffer during his week-long absence, the government has assigned additional charge to Deputy Municipal Commissioner Amrutesh Aurangabadkar until 15 November. While Pani is tasting tapas as a jury member at the 10th edition of the international World Tapas Competition in Spain, Ahmedabad's administrative machinery is facing its own test back home. Pani is likely to return to a pile of files, pending decisions, and reports from officials. Until then, however, the additional charge will be more than a routine administrative arrangement for Aurangabadkar. It will be an opportunity to demonstrate his administrative grip and decision-making abilities at the helm of the Municipal Corporation. Transfer Train Is Back The Secretariat is back in full swing after the brief Diwali break, but the buzz among bureaucrats is less about official business and more about an impending administrative reshuffle. Officers reportedly lined up for Vibrant Gujarat foreign tours are particularly anxious, fearing that a transfer order before their scheduled visits could cost them the overseas opportunity. Meanwhile, those who have no prospects of making it to the foreign tour list are looking at the proposed reshuffle as a chance for a change of posting. The power corridors are abuzz with speculation that a major bureaucratic reshuffle could take place by the end of this month or sometime in December. While a few officers are exploring the possibility of Central deputation, others are hoping for additional charges in departments of their choice. Some officers, meanwhile, appear more than willing to move out of their present assignments. Clearly, every officer has a different calculation, and all eyes are on the power centre. Interestingly, discussions suggest that the transfer formula is already in place, with the government merely waiting for the final signal from the high command. Until then, the Secretariat will remain a hub of speculation, calculations, and quiet lobbying. Who gets a coveted posting, who heads to Delhi, who gets an additional charge, and who does the foreign tours remain the big questions. The transfer train is ready at the platform; all it needs is the green signal! ‘Until Further Orders’ For Sangeeta Singh, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1986 batch, retirement appears to have marked the beginning of an extended innings. Singh was appointed Gujarat's Vigilance Commissioner in October 2020 and has now entered her seventh year in office. She was recently seen attending a meeting of senior officials. While most retired bureaucrats rarely get such a long post-retirement assignment, Singh's tenure has turned out to be an exception. Former retired IAS officers who held the post, including Ashok Narayan, Manjula Subramaniam, Achal Kumar Jyoti, and H.K. Dash, did not enjoy such an extended stint. The most interesting aspect of the arrangement lies in the appointment order issued by the Deputy Secretary of the Home Department on October 31, 2020. It explicitly states that Singh's appointment will continue 'Until Further Orders'. Perhaps these four words hold the key to understanding her unusually long tenure. Charge Of The Festive Season Whenever government officers go on leave, the administration is concerned about ensuring that their chairs do not remain vacant. However, the Forest and Environment Department seems to have taken this arrangement to another level. In a recent order, eight IFS officers were assigned the additional charge of officers proceeding on leave. The most interesting case is that of IFS officer Ram Ratan Nala, who was assigned additional charge of three positions simultaneously: Project Director, PMU-PERG, Gandhinagar; Chief Conservator of Forests, Marine National Park Circle, Jamnagar; and Conservator of Forests, Working Plan, Junagadh. His additional responsibilities will conclude on 15 November. Meanwhile, Mohan Ram, Conservator of Forests, Junagadh Circle, has been entrusted with the additional charge of Conservator of Forests, Rajkot Social Forestry Circle, until 29 November, as R. Senthilkumaran is on leave. While such arrangements ensure that administrative work does not come to a standstill during an officer's absence, they also raise questions about the quality of work and accountability in decision-making. 1,400 Products, One Big Test Launching portals and listing products on them has almost become a new trend in government schemes. But this initiative has a different and more meaningful objective. Developed under the Ministry of Rural Development's DAY-NRLM, the eSARAS platform has listed over 1,400 products, offering a digital marketplace for handicrafts, handloom items, food products, pottery, and home décor made by women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs). One of its most significant features is its integration with digital platforms such as Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG). From Gujarat's traditional Bandhani and embroidery to Bihar's Madhubani paintings and Chhattisgarh's iron crafts, products representing India's diverse craft traditions are now available on a single digital platform. For rural women who have relied on their craftsmanship for livelihoods, this digital marketplace could open doors to new customers and income opportunities. However, government portals are often launched with considerable enthusiasm, but sustaining sales and effective marketing remains a persistent challenge. The real success of eSARAS will not be measured by the number of clicks or products listed, but by the actual earnings credited to the accounts of women artisans. Reporting More, Recycling Less When it comes to protecting the environment, the government machinery is hardly short of schemes. To ensure the recycling of plastic waste, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework has been put in place. In simple terms, companies that introduce plastic packaging into the market are also required to take responsibility for its environmentally sound disposal. Gujarat has 677 registered plastic waste processors, with an annual processing capacity of over 2 million tonnes, according to a presentation by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). These figures suggest that Gujarat is gearing up to turn plastic waste into an industry in its own right. However, GPCB's own figures tell a somewhat different story. Of the 71,741 entities registered under EPR across the country, only 22,272 have been onboarded onto the Common EPR Portal. This means nearly 69% of the entities are yet to complete the onboarding process. The annual return filing status is equally unimpressive. In FY2024-25, only 28,471 of the 48,606 Producers, Importers, and Brand Owners (PIBOs) required to file annual returns under EPR actually submitted them. In other words, while accountability has been assigned, not everyone appears enthusiastic.