LK Atheeq IAS (Retd) on fiscal federalism, Peripheral Ring Road and Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poems

His abrupt exit from Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s office earlier this year raised eyebrows. Now, retired IAS officer LK Atheeq is heading the Bengaluru Business Corridor aimed at reviving the decades-old Peripheral Ring Road project (PRR).

With over 30 years in public service, LK Atheeq has been a senior advisor at the World Bank, has served in the Prime Minister’s Office and piloted crucial initiatives in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department in Karnataka — all while advocating for states’ rights in fair distribution of taxes and federalism.

South First Editor Anusha Ravi Sood caught up with the bureaucrat who has embarked not just on the PRR but also a personal project too — popularising his translation of renowned Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.