Take back all IAS, IPS officers, SP dares UPA

Isolated by all on action against an IAS officer, it turns defiant

• SP general secretary says they can manage with state officers
• Mulayam defends his son’s action, sees nothing wrong
• Akhilesh says a government functions this way only
• PM says rules are there to deal with such issues

New Delhi (Agencies): The row over the action taken by the Uttar Pradesh government against young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal took a sharp turn on Monday with the Samajwadi Party taking a serious view of the Centre and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi acting on the issue. After Sonia Gandhi had urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that no unfair treatment was meted out to her, the Centre sought an explanation from the State government on the issue.
Adopting a defiant stance, the SP on Monday dared the UPA government to take back all IAS and IPS officers, saying it has no need of them in the State. Its General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ramgopal Yadav said the administration could be run with the of state service officers.

"If this undue pressure continues, then my government would like to write to centre to withdraw all their IAS and IPS officers. We can manage with state administrative and police officers," he told the media in Parliament on the day the UPA government tabled its game-changer Food Security Bill. The UPA counts on the SP to ensure smooth sailing of the bill in Parliament.

The UP government had on Sunday evening served a charge-sheet on the suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, asking for her explanation within 15 days allegedly for not following due process of law while demolishing a wall of a mosque in village Kadalpur in Gautam Buddh Nagar on July 27. The 28-year-old 2009-batch officer was suspended on July 29. She had denied the charges. The State government has since July 27 under a scathing criticism from political parties, civil societies and bureaucracy that the sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar was punished for taking on the powerful sand mafia.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav also spoke on the day, defending the action of his son Akhilesh Yadav’s government. "It is a correct decision. If the government had not taken a decision it would have been a problem," he told media outside the Parliament in New Delhi. He Y, however, refused to comment on whether the suspension would be revoked.

Akhilesh also said during the day in Lucknow that "Sarkar isee tarha chalti hai, agar koi adhikari galti karta hai to saza milti hai" (the government functions this way, if any officer commits mistake he/she gets punishment)." He also brazenly likened his action to that of parents or teachers punishing children for their mistakes.

"If the government had not taken a decision it would have been a problem," Yadav said and stressed that the suspension was on solid grounds, and the demolition of a mosque wall during the holy month of Ramadan would hurt sentiments of Muslims.

“If an officer makes a mistake, he/she is punished. This is how a government works,” he said. He also wondered why the media was taking so much interest in an administrative decision. “Several officers were also suspended during Mayawati's tenure," he pointed out.

Speaking to reporters on the issue, Manmohan Singh said: “There are rules laid down. They will be followed. We are in touch with the state government to get details of the case.”