No action but reward coming to Manoj Kumar has irked the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) that has been questioning his promotion to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre from a non-administrative service. The recent outburst has come after the erstwhile Bokaro DC was transferred and given a plum posting as Director of the State Horticulture Mission.
Moreover, it not just the party which is asking uncomfortable questions regarding the promotion of the official who has been living dangerously with some serious allegations against him. Charges of fraud, fudging documents and duping even the committee for promotion have been widely reported and also figured among the Assembly questions.
“Manoj Kumar was under scanner for allegedly writing his own confidential report. He could produce only three years of confidential report which was scrutinised before notifying promotions and has duped the selection committee with fudged special CR. The CR submitted by Kumar was one-page handwritten report by himself. When we brought out the issue the Chief Minister had assured us that a probe would be done into the matter. But his case is pending with the law Department for last three months without any breakthrough,” said JVM legislative party leader Pradeep Yadav on Thursday after Kumar was shifted.
Manoj Kumar before getting upgraded into IAS cadre from non-State Civil Services cadre was working as Assistant Engineer.
Though officials of the law Department could not be reached for their comments, it is learnt that Kumar enjoys the backing in wider political circles. An Assembly question was also listed on the matter on the penultimate day of Winter Session. “When the question was about to be asked, the JMM staged deafening protests in the House washing out the entire Question Hour,” said an official.
The JVM, while suspecting some foul play in the entire matter, had demanded an inquiry through a special committee under the Chief Secretary or by a sitting judge of Jharkhand High Court. It also pointed to alleged murky deals to push an Assistant Engineer of the Water Resource Department up the administrative hierarchy and suspected favoritism behind airdropping him first on the post of DC and now as Director of Horticulture, especially when the probe in still on.
Notably, Kumar had also caught eyeballs very recently when Chief Minister Raghubar Das, in a public meeting at Bokaro, had rapped him and ordered him to leave the venue for talking over phone during his speech. Nevertheless, all these controversies could not stop him from getting up on the ladder.