Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) under whom
Durga Shakti got training, wrote an article in INDIAN
EXPRESS titled ‘STEELING THE FRAME’, in which
the writer said Durga Shakti’s case could trigger civil
service reform, a demand pending for long time.
According to her, suspension shows growing
intolerance across the political spectrum to a civil
service that wants to play by the rule book. The
arbitrary suspension of Nagpal by the Uttar Pradesh
government and its refusal to back down,
notwithstanding national outrage, reinforces the
lurking fear that with such blatant abuse of political
power, aimed at crippling the bureaucracy, rule of law
and good governance may remain distant dreams.
Raising question over the suspension, the article said
that Nagpal is widely perceived to be a diligent,
hardworking and honest civil servant. She was
spearheading a sustained campaign against illicit
sand mining in Greater Noida, but was suspended on
the grounds that her action to demolish an illegally
constructed wall of a mosque had inflamed religious
passions. It is apparent that the suspension was
ordered by the government at the behest of a local
Samajwadi Party leader, Narendra Bhati, who shares
close links with the local mining mafia. This was
ordered even before the views of the district
magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, which stated that
Nagpal had never demolished any wall, reached the
chief minister’s office. The district police also seemed
unaware of a possible communal flare-up due to
actions attributed to the suspended sub-divisional
magistrate. The young officer also appears to have
been failed by senior colleagues who advise the chief
The fact is that such comments are not acceptable at
all.. Ironically, no one really looked at the woman
angle. Neither political parties, nor women
organizations, and nor the media. The strong IAS
lobby stood behind Nagpal, IAS officer and ignored
the gender angle. Instead, the IAS association
described it as a violation of work rules and violation
of human rights. Precisely for this reason, women
organizations chose to stay away from it. Most
newspapers, news channels and magazines also
chose to report facts of the developments and
analyzed political repercussions of it. Few comments
on face book however deplored the SP’s anti-women
stand.
In fact, Durga Shakti Nagpal who is perceived to be
a firm officer was reportedly trying to live up to her
name. A section of women journalists from the
mainstream newspapers pointed out the link between
SP’s stand on women reservation issue and
suspension of Nagpal. The media has not looked at
this angle. Women journalists said that gender is not
so important in such matters. Any man IAS officer
would have faced similar consequences as Nagpal in
such a situation. Rather, some of them said that being
a woman IAS officer, Nagpal escaped the physical
attack by the mafia.
People from across the country have supported
Nagpals campaign against the ‘sand mafia’. But she
failed to realize that mafias do not exist in a vacuum.
Their political aakaa give them shelter for mutual
benefit. Interestingly, one Moana Bhagbati, a member
of faculty at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National
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