Lucknow: Durga Shakti Nagpal, Amitabh Thakur, Love Kumar and now Charu Nigam. Instances of IAS and IPS officer having run-ins with politicians are registering an alarming increase in Uttar Pradesh.
The trend has upset the bureaucracy, particularly, young officers, who said that the political leaders should also follow a code of conduct government issued by the government.
“If political leaders are not reined in, the day is not far when young officers will start seeking a change of cadre. Who would want to serve in a state where they get publicly humiliated for doing their duty?” asked a young IPS officer, also a batch mate of Charu Nigam, who was rebuked by BJP MLA Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal on Sunday.
According to sources, more than 13 IPS officers have already started lobbying at the Centre for a change of cadre. “Yes, I have met some officials concerned and as soon as they give me an assurance, I will put in an application. I would prefer any other state except UP where there is no stability of tenure and self respect,” said a 2009 batch IPS officer.
Durga Shakti Nagpal, the young IAS officer who was suspended in 2013 by the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for ‘daring to stop illegal mining’ by a local SP leader Narendra Bhati, has already got her cadre changed from UP to Delhi. Her husband Abhishek Singh has also got his cadre changed.
Amitabh Thakur, a senior IPS officer, also applied for a cadre change after he was suspended by the previous regime in 2015 for accusing then SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav of threatening him on phone.
Thakur had produced an audio clip of his conversation with Mr Yadav to prove his point. More recently IPS officer Love Kumar was transferred out of Saharanpur after a run-in with the local BJP MLA Raghav Lakhanpal. The mob allegedly led by Lakhanpal had attacked the SSP’s home and office and vandalised it.
According to a retired DGP, “Since some of the bureaucrats have began to work like political agents, the politicians treat every officer in a similar manner. Those who do not toe the line are made to face the music.”
