IAS association up in arms against suspension

The Uttar Pradesh IAS association Monday urged the government to reverse the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who had taken on the sand mafia.

The suspended sub divisional magistrate (SDM) was posted in Noida, adjoining the national capital.

Office bearers of the Indian Administrative Service association met Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani and petitioned him to intervene in the matter.

Nagpal also met association president Alok Ranjan, who is also the agriculture production commissioner.

According to informed sources, the chief secretary sympathized with Nagpal and vowed to take up the matter with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on his (Yadav's) return from Karnataka.

The official was suspended Sunday by the state government on grounds of arbitrarily issuing orders of a demolition of a mosque in Noida, with the potential to trigger communal tension.

Officials close to the SDM, however, alleged that she was eased out owing to her sustained drive against illegal mining in the area.

She is reported to have seized more than 25 trucks carrying sand in the last one month.

Congress leader Rashid Masood reacted sharply to the official's suspension and accused the ruling Samajwadi Party of protecting criminals.

"The suspended official is on probation. If she is suspended for honesty, imagine how she will survive these scars all through her career" asked another officer.

Vijay Bahadur Pathak of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) added: "What can you expect from this government where the honest officials are hounded and the corrupt protected?"

The government said the suspension of Nagpal was a routine administrative measure after she showed "lack of foresight in ordering the demolition of an under construction wall of a mosque in Kadalpur village.

"Her immature decision could have triggered communal tension," a senior government official said. "The government was forced to take a tough stand."

The government has attached her to the revenue board.