Rohini Sindhuri (IAS) Wiki, Age, Family, Biography & More

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Dark Brown

Family & Ethnicity

Rohini Sindhuri belongs to a Telugu family.

Parents & Siblings

Rohini’s father’s name is Jaipal Reddy. Her mother’s name is Srilakshmi Reddy. Rohini has a younger brother, and a sister, Priyanka Reddy, who is a dermatologist.

Husband & Children

Rohini’s husband, Sudhir Reddy, is a software engineer from Karnataka. Together, they have two children, a son and a daughter, Sirinya Reddy.

Other Relatives

Rohini’s father-in-law’s name is Narayana Reddy. Her brother-in-law’s name is Madhusudhan Reddy.

Caste

Rohini belongs to the Dasari caste.

Career

In August 2011, after Rohini received training from Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy Of Administration in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, she was posted as the assistant commissioner of the Revenue Department in Tumakuru. After serving as an assistant commissioner for a year, in August 2012, Rohini joined the Department of Urban Development as a commissioner and served there till December 2012. Rohini was appointed as a director at the Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Department in August 2013 in Bengaluru. After serving as a director for nine months, in May 2014, she served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zila Panchayat, Mandya. Rohini worked as a CEO for around fifteen months, and in September 2015, she joined the department of Food & Civil Supplies as a managing director. She served as a managing director till July 2017. Rohini was appointed as a deputy commissioner of the Land Revenue Department in Hassan in July 2017. She served there till February 2019 and joined the Department of Building Construction Corporation as a secretary. In June 2021, Rohini was appointed commissioner of the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Department.

Controversies

Fought for premature transfer

On 14 July 2017, Rohini was appointed as the deputy commissioner of the Hassan district in Karnataka. Within seven months of her appointment, Rohini received the orders for her transfer on 22 January 2018, although her minimum tenure to serve the post was for two years. As per some media sources, the reason behind the transfer was her tiff with the politician A Manju, which happened while awarding the contract of construction for the event of Mahamastakabhisheka, held in Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. As per sources, the clash between the two emerged when Rohini awarded the contract to the Public Works Department (PWD), whereas Manju wanted to give the contract to the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL). Rohini appealed to the Election Commission (EC) regarding her alleged premature transfer, and consequently, her transfer order was stalled. However, after two days, the state government issued another transfer order to Rohini, which provoked her to move to the Karnataka High Court. On 25 June 2018, she was re-appointed as the deputy commissioner of the district after fighting the case for almost five months.

Locked the district in-charge minister’s office

On 31 March 2018, during her stint as the Hassan deputy commissioner, Rohini stirred controversy when she locked down the office of the Indian politician A Manju, located at the PWD Inspection Bungalow. Manju’s office, which was restricted to be used for election purposes, had some women workers inside, who behind closed doors were working to finish some pending work. A case was booked against Manju after Rohini issued a notice to him, seeking an explanation from him regarding the use of government space for election work, which was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Accused of harassment and humiliation

On 3 June 2021, Shilpa Nag, an IAS officer, announced her resignation, citing that she was being targeted by Rohini Sindhuri for not fulfilling her duties as the commissioner of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC). Shilpa alleged that Rohini humiliated her and the MCC staff members by constantly complaining that no work was being carried out by them. However, Rohini denied the allegation made against her and claimed that she only asked for the documents related to the Covid management and the fund allocated for Covid relief, which did not account for any kind of harassment. Consequently, the feud between the two resulted in their respective transfers by the Karnataka government. Sindhuri, who earlier served as the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner was appointed as the commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, whereas Shilpa was appointed as the director of E-governance in Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department. In an interview, talking about how she was harassed by Rohini, Shilpa said,

There is harassment and humiliation by the DC. I have had no mental peace, no proper sleep and no food for the past week. I have had enough. No district or city should have such an officer. She has been humiliating MCC staff and has threatened to suspend them.”

Defamation case filed by S. R. Mahesh

In September 2022, an Indian politician S. R. Mahesh filed a civil and criminal defamation case against Rohini Sindhuri, seeking a written apology in a leading newspaper with a compensation of Rs 1 crore. Mahesh, who serves as the Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Krishnarajanagara constituency, alleged that Rohini falsely accused him in an illegal land-grabbing case and passed some derogatory statements against him, which ruined his political career.

Alleged of misusing state resources

In December 2022, Lucky Ali, an Indian singer, accused Rohini Sindhuri and his husband Sudhir Reddy of allegedly helping the land mafia in illegally capturing his farmhouse, which is a trust property, situated at Kenchenahalli, Yelahanka, Bengaluru. Ali claimed that Rohini misused the state resources and her power to help her husband illegally grab the property and forge authentic documents. Lucky in his complaint, wrote,

My farm which is a Trust Property located in Kenchenahalli Yelahanka is being encroached on illegally by Sudhir Reddy (and Madhu Reddy) from the Bangalore land mafia, with the help of his wife who is an IAS officer by the name of Rohini Sindhuri. They are misusing state resources for their personal gain. They are forcibly and illegally coming inside my farm and refusing to show the relevant documents.”

However, Sudhir Reddy claimed the accusations as baseless and stated that the property did not belong to Lucky Ali. In an interview, Rohini termed the allegations made against her as groundless and said,

I have nothing to do with the property and the said land was purchased by my brother-in-law Madhusudhan Reddy before my marriage to Sudhir Reddy. I am unduly being dragged in with ulterior motives in a matter I have no role at all. It is done with an intention to malign and cause disrepute to me and gain public sympathy. I will file a defamation suit against the singer. There is an injunction against Lucky Ali and his statements are contemptuous. It is unfortunate that Ali is misusing his celebrity status and throwing mud at me.”

D. Roopa vs Rohini Sindhuri

In February 2023, the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation D Roopa shared pictures of the commissioner for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Rohini Sindhuri on social media, claiming that Sindhuri shared her private pictures and videos with three IAS officers in 2020 and 2021, which consequently, violated the All India Services (Conduct) Rules for officers of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS). Roopa further listed 19 allegations against Rohini Sindhuri including corruption accusations, her alleged involvement in the suicide case of D. K. Ravi in 2015, and her connection in controlling the oxygen cylinder supply, which led to the death of 24 patients at the Chamarajanagar hospital in Karnataka in 2021. While talking about this to the media, Roopa said,

What does it mean when these kind of pictures are sent to male senior officials? This is not a private matter. I am publishing these pictures now because I was able to access it only now. If I had received it earlier, I would have published. This is not a private matter. I will take this up further. This is a violation of the code of conduct.”

In response to the allegations put up by D. Roopa, Rohini Sindhuri claimed it to be false. Sindhuri talked about this in an interview and said,

The photos are screenshots and picked from social media posts/ WhatsApp status and used to scandalise me. It is her (Ms. Roopa) standard modus operandi. She has done it in every place she has worked. She has always craved for media attention. I will take legal and other actions with appropriate authorities for her actions amounting to misconduct and criminal offences under various sections of IPC.”

Sindhuri’s husband Sudhir Reddy filed a complaint for defaming Rohini with the Bagalagunte police station in Bengaluru, seeking action against Roopa for her posts. Additionally, Rohini issued a legal notice to Roopa, demanding a written apology and compensation of Rs 1 crore for defaming her and damaging her reputation.

Facts/Trivia

• Rohini secured 43rd rank with 55.78% marks in the UPSC examination.

  Scorecard of Rohini Sindhuri for the UPSC examination

• Rohini, after completing her engineering degree, worked with a company, Shell, for a short period. However, her interest developed in civil services, and she decided to prepare for the UPSC examination. In an interview, Rohini talked about the reason behind preparing for the civil services and said,
  

  I did not want to end up designing boilers. Civil services is a profession which is close to  politics and  the media and everyday is a challenge.”

• During her stint as the CEO of Mandya Zilla Parishad, Rohini launched a drive to provide individual toilets to over 1.02 lakh households between 2014–15, making Mandya the first district in Karnataka to achieve the target of maximum construction of toilets under “Swacch Bharath Abhiyan”(Clean India Campaign).

• During her tenure as the Hassan deputy commissioner, Rohini played a crucial role in implementing measures to curb the illegal mining and transportation of sand, prevalent in the Hemavathi river bed in Sakaleshpura, Beluru, and Aluru areas of Karnataka.

• In 2015, impressed by Rohini’s performance in implementing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) by constructing toilets in the Mandaya district, the Union government selected her to train district collectors and deputy commissioners of various States in New Delhi for the two-day orientation programme on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

• On 16 March 2015, IAS officer D. K. Ravi allegedly committed suicide by hanging in his apartment at St John’s Woods Apartment near Koramangala, Bengaluru. During the investigation, Rohini was suspected to be linked with his mysterious death. As per some media sources, Ravi, who was the batchmate of Rohini Sindhuri, was romantically inclined towards her, post his marriage with Kusuma Hanumantharayappa. When Ravi expressed his feelings, Rohini, who was already married, refrained from him following which he committed suicide.

• On 1 January 2018, Rohini launched an online grievance redressal portal called Spandana. Her motive behind launching Spandana was to ensure that people could register their complaints online without standing in long queues. The portal aimed at solving people’s complaints within a week, which eventually led to transparency in the system as the administration was able to address the complaints on priority by providing possible solutions.

• On 23 February 2018, a show-cause notice was issued by the state government to Rohini for allegedly violating the government protocol by not being present to receive the then chief minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah, when he graced his presence to inaugurate the Mahamastakabhisheka, a Jain community event held at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. As per the protocol, during any event, the district deputy commissioner must receive and depart the chief minister. Rohini, being the deputy commissioner of Hassan, failed to receive Siddaramaiah on 7 February 2018 following which an explanatory notice was issued to her for breaching the protocol.

• Rohini is fluent in several languages, including Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English.

• From 2019 to 2020, Rohini underwent in-service training for the Inner Engineering Leadership program, which was held at the Isha (Foundation) Yoga Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

• Rohini successfully utilized the government funds amounting to Rs 65 crores for installing 100 pure drinking water units across Mandya. Impressed by her work, the union government facilitated an additional grant of Rs 6 crores to establish more drinking units.

• In May 2021, M R Ravi, deputy commissioner of Chamarajanagar, accused Rohini of not supplying oxygen cylinders to the Chamarajanagar hospital in Karnataka following which 24 Covid patients died due to the shortage of oxygen. However, Rohini denied the allegations made against her of controlling the oxygen supply. Consequently, a Fact-Finding Committee was constituted by the Karnataka High Court to investigate the matter and they gave a clean chit to Rohini, citing that she had no connection with the allotment of oxygen cylinders.

• On 20 May 2022, an Indian politician and Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, S. R. Mahesh, levelled various allegations against Rohini Sindhuri during her tenure as the district commissioner of Mysuru. Consequently, the state government ordered an investigation against her for allegedly renovating Jala Sannidhi, a heritage property and the official residence of the deputy commissioner of Mysuru by constructing a swimming pool and gym, purchasing environment-friendly cloth bags from Karnataka State Handloom Development Corporation (KHDC) at a higher rate for distribution among students, and providing false statistics to the government regarding the number of the Covid related deaths.