Lucknow: Samajwadi Party today struck a defiant note on the issue of suspension of IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal, saying officials are punished whenever they do something wrong and the Centre can withdraw IAS officers from the state.
"There might be many children (sitting here) who I can say would have received a beating from their teachers and parents when they had done something wrong.... the government is also run like this, whenever any official does something wrong, he is punished," Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said while addressing a function here.
On the Centre seeking a report from the state on the suspension of the officer, senior Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav asked the Centre to withdraw all IAS officers from the state.
Yadav said, "Uttar Pradesh would say that we do not want any IAS officer. Let the Centre withdraw all these officers from the state and it would run the state with its own officers."
To a question on whether the Centre was setting a precedent by interfering in the matter, Yadav retorted that under the circumstances the "state would ask the Centre to withdraw all IAS officers, the government would run with the help of its (provincial services) officers".
The SP leader said he suspension was an administrative matter and his party did not want to politicise it.
The Centre has already sought a report on the suspension of the officer through letters.The state government has issued a charge sheet to Nagpal giving her 15 days time to submit her reply.
 
Row over Durga Sakthi intensifies between UP govt, Centre
New Delhi: Confrontation between the Centre and UP government over Durga Sakthi Nagpal intenfied with SP today threatening to seek withdrawal of all IAS officers from the state after the Union government suggested that it could step in if the suspended official writes to it directly.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "We are in touch with the state government to find out the full details of the issue."
He told reporters in Parliament complex that the laid down rules to deal with such cases will be followed.
Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said that under the rules, the officer who has been suspended has the right to appeal.
"She has not approached us so far. But if she sends her appeal to us, we will send its copy to the state government and seek its response. Then, we will decide the future course of action. Normally, an officer approaches the state government... We cannot act suo motu," he said.
The Centre had yesterday asked the UP government to immediately give a report on the suspension of Nagpal, a 2010 batch IAS officer who had cracked down on sand mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar area (Noida).
Narayanasamy had said yesterday this was the third such letter sent to the state government so far after 28-year-old Nagpal was suspended on July 27.
The Centre's fresh reminder came in the backdrop of Sonia Gandhi, who is Chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC), writing a letter to the Prime Minister, saying that Nagpal should not be "unfairly treated".
"We must ensure that the officer is not unfairly treated," Gandhi had said in her letter to Singh, who holds the charge of Personnel Ministry. The UP government had yesterday served a charge sheet to the IAS officer.