U.P. Government should take back suspension of Durga Nagpal: Jagdambika Pal

Congress leader Jagdambika Pal said that the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal was uncalled for and urged the state government to retract the order.

Durga Shakti Nagpal, 28, is the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh but was suspended yesterday, less than one year after her first posting, for opposing an illegal building of a mosque on government property.

The young 2009-batch IAS officer came to limelight over her crackdown on the sand mining mafia, which ran rampant along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, Nagpal had seized nearly 300 trolleys of sand being illegally mined from the Yamuna river bed.

"As per the procedure inscribed, if a civil service officer has to be punished a show cause notice has to be issued prior to it. Their own party (Samajwadi Party) member, Sri Ram Gopal Yadav has said that the suspension order that was handed out to Durga Shakti Nagpal was incorrect. I believe that the state government should take back the suspension order," Pal said here today.

Additionally, Pal said that the Akhilesh Yadav-led state government stand that she was suspended as there was a fear of triggering communal tension is not valid. "There have been communal riots in other states, and yet no officers have been suspended. The fear of initiating communal tension is incorrect" , Pal said.

"Officers are the permanent organs of the government. If their morale is damaged, it will certainly deter the progress of the government" Pal added.

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Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government said removing Nagpal was an "administrative decision" as her decision to demolish the mosque could trigger communal tension, especially since it came during the month of Ramzan. "Sometimes we have to take such decisions to prevent communal tension," said Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.