UP IAS officers rally behind daring officer Durga Shakti Nagpal

The Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy has been churned by resentment over the suspension of probationary IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who dared to take on the sand mining mafia in western UP. The UP IAS Association has demanded that the suspension be revoked. But UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has curtly told the bureaucrats that there is no room for debate over the suspension.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have taken up cudgels for the young IAS officer and have lambasted the SP regime for the alleged administrative high-handedness. Though in a surprising move SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav has come to the suspended official’s aid and asked the UP chief minister to review his decision.

On Monday, a delegation of IAS officials led by UP IAS Association secretary Parthasarthy Sen Sharma met acting chief secretary Alok Ranjan, who is also the association president, and conveyed the strong sentiment prevailing among the state’s bureaucrats. Durga also met Ranjan separately.