Jammu origin bureaucrat helps to restore flood-affected Kedarnath

Dr. Raghav Langer, who hails from Trikutanagar in Jammu, is one among many civil servants from Jammu and Kashmir who are working hard towards nation building.

An MBBS graduate, Dr. Raghav Langer bagged the first position in Kashmir Administrative Services examination in 2007. When he tried his hand at Civil Service examination in 2008, he secured the 21st position.

Dr. Langer was allocated the Uttarakhand cadre and is presently posted as District Magistrate in Rudraprayag.

"Since in the civil services, the horizon is quite broad and there is a wide scale a nature of duties, one is able to get in profession, in a career as a civil servant. So, that attracted me a lot and in civil services one can do a lot for the needy and downtrodden and while implementing the policies of the government one can bring in lot of positive change in the lives of the society. That is what motivated me," Dr. Langer said.

In June 2013, Kedarnath town in his district suffered extensive destruction due to flash floods caused by torrential rains in the state.

Dr. Langer and his team worked tirelessly to manage the situation and bring life back to normal.

The route towards Kedarnath Temple has been restored and is witnessing a heavy footfall of pilgrims.

"In 2014, more than 50,000 pilgrims visited Sri Kedarnath to pay their obeisance. The number increased to 1.5 lakh in 2015. This year, the number of pilgrims touched 3 lakhs and we are expecting it to reach anywhere between 4-5 lakhs - like it was prior to the devastating floods. The government restored the area in just 2-3 years of the calamity," said dr. Langer.

Though Dr. Langer's family is well settled in Uttarakhand, they are connected with their roots in Jammu and Kashmir.

He sets an inspiration for other Jammu and Kashmir youth to work hard and achieve success in their areas of interest.