The Uttar Pradesh IAS Association on Monday firmly stood behind 28-year- old IAS officer, Durga Shakti Nagpal, and demanded her reinstatement.
The officers were agitated over the manner in which Durga Shakti was suspended. The association members held a meeting on Monday morning and later headed to the Chief Secretary office and met officiating Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan.
“We went to meet the Chief Secretary and demanded revocation of the suspension. He said he would look into it,” secretary of the IAS association, Parthsarathi Sen Sharma told reporters. Nagpal accompanied the Association members to the Chief Secretary’s office.
Officiating Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said the matter would be placed before CM Akhilesh Yadav on his return from Karnataka. “The members discussed the matter in detail and I assured them that I would apprise the Chief Minister of the development,” he told reporters.
A 2009-batch IAS officer posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gautam Budh Nagar was penalised ostensibly for the demolition of the wall of a mosque coming up on an encroached land. The Government spokesman had defended the suspension saying it was an administrative decision because she had ordered demolition of the wall at a place of worship without fulfilling the legal formalities.
Slamming the SP Government, Opposition parties alleged that the suspension order was made under pressure from the mining mafia. BJP leader Kalraj Mishra said that the action of the State Government showed “it is not liking officers who are leading drives against the mafia”.“No one knows what mistake she has made. Everyone knows that Durga Shakti was suspended under the influence of sand mafia,” he said.
In Bangalore, Akilesh rubbished the allegations by Opposition parties that the suspension of Nagpal came unber pressure from the mining mafia. He said the step was taken because there was a possibility of communal tension brewing up in the area.