Durga Shakti Nagpal returns, hopefully stronger
Now that the Uttar Pradesh Government has revoked the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, in large measure due to persistent public and media pressure, a chapter in the sordid episode comes to an end and the upright officer will soon be back at work. But the matter will not end till the Samajwadi Party regime in the State brings to account the leaders who plotted her removal from her post on the pretext that her decision to bring down an illegal construction in a village could have inflamed communal discord. Arguably, this is easier said than done, because Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav himself had come out against Ms Nagpal with all guns blazing, after a few Samajwadi Party leaders with an interest in seeing the IAS officer's back complained to him. Now that the inquiry which the State regime had initiated against her has found nothing of value, leaders who had plotted and levelled grave accusations against her, must be made answerable. The episode demonstrates how easy it is for political leaders, who wish to play vote-bank politics, to get rid of an inconvenient civil servant. A closure in the case will also fittingly come about if the State Government cracks down on the sand mafia that is operating across Uttar Pradesh, because Ms Nagpal was falsely implicated for creating ‘potential communal disharmony' so that her effective campaign against illegal sand miners in Gautam Buddh Nagar, many of whom have links with the ruling party politicians, could be brought to a grinding halt. If various media reports are to be believed, that did happen; illegal sand mining is rampant in the State while the Government looks the other way. In fact, Ms Nagpal's suspension had emboldened the mafia bosses to proceed with their illegalities with renewed vigour. The IAS officer's reinstatement means that the charge-sheet the State Government had served to her also stands discredited. The charge-sheet is yet another instance of how the Samajwadi Party regime fabricated material to put the Sub-Divisional Magistrate in the dock and found willing accomplices within the administration.
At the time of writing, it is not known where Ms Nagpal will be posted. One can only speculate whether the once-bitten-twice-shy Akhilesh Yadav Government will take a ‘chance' and give the honest officer an important posting. Dedicated civil servants have a way of doing their job effectively and rubbing dubious elements the wrong way in a howsoever insignificant assignment they get. This IAS officer too perhaps falls in that category. While she will be justifiably pleased at her exoneration and reinstatement, she may not have become malleable. Ms Nagpal has gone through testing times and emerged unscathed, with her head held high. She had maintained a dignified silence throughout her suspension and responded to the State administration's charges via proper channels. We must hope that the recent experience has further steeled her nerves.