Bihar DM gave farewell to his driver

An hour before Sampat Ram, the official driver of Munger District Magistrate (DM) Uday Kumar Singh, was to retire on New Year's Eve, the young IAS officer asked Ram for the keys of the vehicle.

Ram handed over the keys and opened the rear door of the car for the DM. But the IAS officer stunned everyone present there when he told Ram, "Today you sit on my seat. I will be the driver for a day and drop you home, as you are retiring today after 36 years of tireless service."

Ram could not control his emotions as this was arguably a first-of-its-kind incident in the state where a DM was going to drop his driver home on the retirement day.

When Ram reached his home at Jyotinagar in Munger, the local residents as well as Ram's wife, Geeta Devi, rubbed their eyes in disbelief on seeing an IAS officer dropping his driver at the latter's home.

"Since I had never seen the DM Saheb driving the car, so I was shocked when he asked for the vehicle's keys. But when he proposed that he would drop me at my home on my last day of working, I was pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed at his gesture. For a while, I could not control my emotions," said Ram.

The district magistrate said he had planned the retirement function of his driver quietly without letting even Ram know about it. "It was my inner voice which asked me to do this small bit for the man who served here for around 36 years," said the DM, who later gave Ram the retirement benefit papers, including the PF and gratuity.

The best gift for the retiring person was reserved for the last. Before leaving Ram's house, the DM announced that Ram had been hired by his office for one year employment on contractual basis. This largesse doubled the joy of Ram and his family.