UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday, made it clear that his government was firm on the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal and there was no question of reconsidering the same.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, the chief minister said that his government did not suspend the officer under pressure from any lobby and her suspension was certainly not related to illegal sand mining.
“If the communal harmony in the state is going to be affected, we have to take action,” he told reporters.
The chief minister said that a Muslim family had built a wall which had been demolished due to the orders of the IAS official, which was unfair.
The government spokesperson, meanwhile, denied that the district officials in Greater Noida had sent any report to the state government giving a clean chit to the suspended officer. “A section of the media has reported this but we have not received any such report,” said a government spokesperson while the district magistrate of Greater Noida refused to speak to the media on the issue.
A leading daily had reported on Thursday that the suspended officer never demolished the wall that is being cited as a reason for her suspension.
Meanwhile, the UP IAS Association seems to be at loggerheads with their counterparts in Delhi on the issue. A brief statement issued by UP IAS Association president Alok Ranjan before midnight on Wednesday said that the UP IAS officers had no intentions of meeting the minister of state for personnel on the issue of the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal.
It is obvious that the IAS Association in UP does not wish to continue its battle with the state government and is satisfied with a customary meeting with the chief secretary.
The suspension of the officer has gradually turned into a prestige issue for Mr Akhilesh Yadav and the government is unwilling to retract its steps on the issue.