Durga Shakti and Media
By Anju Grover
D
urga Shakti Nagpal is a household name now.
The daring 28-year-old IAS officer was
suspended on July 27 as Sub-Divisional
magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar by the Uttar
Pradesh government ostensibly for taking on the
powerful sand mining mafia in Noida and Greater
Noida, although the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
maintained that she was suspended for arbitrarily
ordering the demolition of the wall of an
under-construction mosque in Kadalpur village.
to Centre within a week’s
time from the time of
suspension. TV news
channels, national and
regional newspapers, news
websites
and
social
networking sites covered
the controversial transfer
very objectively and all of
them condemned the SP
Anju Grover
action in one voice.
Obviously, the SP and
ministers in the Akhilesh government did not like it.
Her suspension and subsequent war of words
between the Centre and state government, between
the Congress party and the Samajwadi party and SP
bashing of the media have evoked much response
from the dailies at national and regional level. The
dailies have deplored the state action and stated that
her suspension is nothing but a reminder of how good
administrative efforts are often hampered by political
bosses. The state government’s stand was that
Nagpal had dared to demolish the mosque wall during
Ramzan period and her actions could have triggered
communal tension in the area. The real story was
something else.
The Akhilesh government, on the contrary, accused
the media of going ‘overboard’ over a routine
administrative measure. Health and Family Welfare
Minister Ahmed Hasan slammed the media for
highlighting Nagpal’s suspension and also launched a
personal attack on suspended IAS officer Durga
Shakti Nagpal. He went on to say that he would reveal
the family background of Nagpal, the media would
know then whom it is favouring. He said the media
has made Nagpal more popular than Amitabh
Bachchan on the internet. He said that he was
surprised as media was glorifying a foolish SDM and
requested media to help the SP in this crisis. Making
the most derogatory comment, he said that a foolish
SDM did not perform her duty. She claimed that the
mosque was demolished by villagers. By telling a lie,
the lady has degraded the dignity of IAS cadre. She
has finished her credibility. The minister said there
were black sheep in the fraternity. These five per cent
journalists were maligning the image of all media
persons. They should be identified. Media should
come out from Nagpal fixation and report on various
welfare schemes of SP government. The most ironic
thing is when Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav evaded
a query on Hasan’s criticism of the media but said:
“Jo saathi naaraz hain unko hamare taraf se
rasgullaen pahuncha dena” (send rasgollas from my
side to those friends who are angry).
The media debated the centre-state conflict on
Nagpal’s suspension the fluctuating relationship of
convenience between the Congress and the
Samajwadi Party and with the countdown for 2014,
the dailies pointed out the utter disregard for the
bureaucrats by the Akhilesh government. The Centre
decided to bring changes in the existing All India
Service (discipline and appeal) rules 1969 to ensure
that honest and upright officers are “not victimized” at
the whims of political bosses. The centre’s action
came after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that Nagpal
should be treated fairly. The All India IAS Association
has pointed out the arbitrariness in state
government’s action, as no explanation was sought
from Nagpal before her suspension. The state
government Y