Lucknow: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Aditya Nath has suspended five PWD officials after the removal of the officer on special duty (OSD) of the minister Jitin Prasada, sources said on Wednesday.
There were allegations against the OSD Anil Pandey that he was complying with the transfer police and that he committed irregularities, so he was suspended.
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Those suspended included Manoj Kumar Gupta, Engineer-in-Chief (Development) and the head of the department, according to sources.
The other officials are engineer-in-chief (project and planning) Rakesh Kumar Saxena, Senior Staff Officer Shailendra Kumar Yadav, Administrative Officer Pankaj Dixit, and Principal Assistant Sanjay Kumar Chaurasia.
A disciplinary inquiry has been instituted against them, sources further said. The action came soon after a complaint of non-compliance of the transfer policy and that of irregularities cropped up. Adityanath has constituted an inquiry committee headed by Agriculture Production Commissioner Manoj Kumar Singh after serious irregularities in transfers came to the fore in the Public Works Department.
The committee submitted its report on July 16 and based on its findings, the chief minister ordered the suspension of the officers with immediate effect.
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A senior official said the minister’s OSD was relieved of his duties following complaints against him. Pandey is being sent back to the central government and a probe has been recommended against him, the official added. According to department officials, more than 150 transfers were made in the department and they seem to be “arbitrary.” Some engineers have been given two postings while in some cases more than one official has been posted on one post. Nevertheless, Prasada was not available for comments on the issue.