Unfazed by the stinging criticism over the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday that if officers make mistakes, they will be duly punished.
“I am sure that there are a lot of children here who have been punished by their parents and teachers whenever they make mistakes. The governments run in the same way. If an official makes a mistake, he or she will be punished,” said Mr Yadav while addressing a function to honour meritorious students.
The CM lashed out at the Opposition and the media for targeting his government. “When we take a decision, everyone opposes us. In the previous regime, several incidents have happened with IAS officers. One officer died and some said it was murder and some called it a suicide but no one knows what happened. Today, the officers are walking freely in and out of our offices but in the BSP regime, they had to remove their shoes before entering their offices,” he pointed out. He said that hundreds of SDMs have been suspended across the country but the media was projecting this case as if it was the first of its kind. “Ten years of politics and struggle is equal to one year of running a government and I know this too well now,” he added.
The chief minister’s stand comes hours after Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav justified the chief minister’s action against the IAS officer in Delhi.
The chief minister’s statement also reflects that the state government is not in a reconciliatory mood on the issue and is ready to battle it out with the Centre.
The state government, it may be recalled had served a chargesheet on Durga Shakti Nagpal late on Sunday night even though government offices were closed.
A copy of the chargesheet has been sent to the Central government too.
The note sent to the Centre states that according to the law, if any officer of the IAS complains against any decision taken by the state government, then the government is duty bound to respond to it within one week.
“In this case, Durga has not made any appeal before the state government. If any such appeal has been made to the Centre, then it must provide details of the same to the state,” the note states.
Meanwhile, party sources said that all Samajwadi MPs have been equipped with details of transfers and suspensions of officials in non-SP regimes, including that of Mayawati, Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh, and will be prepared to take on the other parties if the issue is raised in Parliament.