The statement made by the State’s Director General of Police MA Ganapathy about transferring police officers found indulging in corruption to mountainous districts of Uttarakhand has elicited criticism from noted persons from different spheres ranging from politics and environmental protection to social activism in this Himalayan State.
That a posting in the mountainous regions of the Himalayan State should be viewed as a punishment posting for the police is a cause for major concern regarding the attitude of officials in various Government bodies towards the mountainous regions.
Sarvodaya movement activist Suresh Bhai said that such a statement from a senior-most and responsible officer does not seem appropriate.
He said, “It is this type of mentality among Government officials and others in the Government establishment viewing the mountains from a negative view point which has remained among the major factors creating impediments in efforts being made towards achievement of the developmental aspects for which this mountain state was formed”.
“The Himalayan region of Uttarakhand should not be considered to be a dumping ground for police or any Government official found to be indulging in corrupt
practices. Far from taking the state nearer to the desired level of development, working with such a mentality will take the State closer to degeneration,” he opined, while adding that it was unfortunate that such a Statement was coming from
the DGP.
Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) founder and Gaon Bachao Abhiyan campaigner, Anil Prakash Joshi too termed the reported statement
unfortunate.
“However, I think the DGP must have said so from a
different perspective and not from a derogatory point of view. I believe that while
speaking of punishment
posting in the mountainous regions, the DGP must have said so in the context of the general inference drawn by the general public regarding factors like the comparatively difficult geographical and other inconvenient conditions associated with the mountainous regions,” said Joshi.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former vice
chairman of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) who is currently also the head of the Jan Sangharsh Morcha, Raghunath Singh Negi expressed disappointment
at the statement made by the top brass.
He said, “For a Government officer to work in the mountainous region of Uttarakhand with its Himalayas, spiritual and environmental wealth should not be viewed as some sort of punishment posting.”
He further added, “the mountainous region should not be treated as a dumping group for transferring the police or any other Government employee found indulging in corrupt activities.”
“In case of police personnel being found indulging in corrupt acts, such members of the police force should be reverted back to the police lines and kept there instead of being transferred to the mountainous areas on some sort of punishment posting,” he stressed.