The clash of Titan is out now…power clash between the IAS and IPS officers in Uttar Pradesh is talk of the town these days. The tussle was triggered when Noida District Magistrate (Gautam Buddha Nagar) Brajesh Narayan Singh cancelled recent posting of seven SHOs by SSP Dr Ajay Pal Singh. DM cadence came when the state government ordered that superintendents of police will have to take the nod of district magistrates for posting and transfer of SHOs.

DM Brajesh Narayan Singh in a letter to SSP Dr Ajay Pal Singh raised objections to the fresh posting of the SHOs without his consent as per the new rules by the state government. “The state government issued an order on May 9 stating that the superintendents of police will have to take the approval of district magistrates for posting and transfer of SHOs. But without taking approval of the DM, seven inspectors were posted at police stations in the district. This was clear violation of the state government order,” mentioned in the DM’s letter.

DM Brajesh Narayan Singh, in his letter, alleged that although the SSP is head of the district police force, but he should have taken approval of the DM for the transfer and posting of SHOs, as per the state government’s now rules. DM further wrote that since the SSP has defied the order, he was left with no option but to cancel the transfer order issued by the SSP.

Meanwhile, the IPS Association has requested CM Yogi Adityanath to withdraw the order. Association tweeted that the order is in conflict with the law laid down by Hon’ble Supreme court and High Court. The order questions the trust in the police leadership and will evwntually demoralise SPs. The IPS Association has also raised the issue with UP DGP OP Singh and urged him to take up the matter with the state government.

Recently, Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar issued the order that SPs across districts will have to take approval from the district magistrate regarding posting of SHOs.

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Director General of Police (DGP) of Odisha, Rajendra Prasad Sharma was conferred the Prestigious ‘Police Excellence Award’ by the Foundation Police Research in New Delhi on Thursday.

Union Minister of State of Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel felicited Sharma with the award during the International Police Expo and Conference for his exceptinal service to public and protecting rights of people for a better civil society in Odisha.

The award was conferred for the second time in its history and Dr Sharma is the only Odisha Cadre IPS officer to have been honoured with this prestigious award.

Happy to receive Police Excellence Award for Public Service from Sh. Vijay Goel, Hon'ble Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs at New Delhi today. This award truly belongs to people of Odisha who have given me so much respect, recognition and affection in last 32 years. pic.twitter.com/hOldU5MFfs

— DGP, Odisha (@DGPOdisha) May 10, 2018

R P Sharma, a 1986 batch IPS officer, was appointed as the DGP of Odisha in August last year replacing Kunwar Brajesh Singh.

A native of Rajasthan’s Ajmer district, Sharma is a doctor by qualification and holds a law degree.

The police chief started his career as an ASP (under training) at Police Training College, Angul as well as Bubhaneswar before being posted as SDPO, Rayagada. He served as SP in Kalahandi, Berhampur, Dhenkanal and Balasore between 1990 and 2001. He also served as DIG in Crime Branch and Central Range.

Concerned at the free hand to Hindutva groups to disrupt Friday prayers at public places in Gurgaon, around one dozen former civil servants have written to Haryana Chief Secretary urging him to rein in religious outfits, immediately stop vigilantism and ensure police security at the public places at the time of Friday prayers.

In their open letter to Chief Secretary of Haryana Depinder Singh Dhesi, the former civil servants warned that if not arrested immediately, “such vigilantism will seriously hurt the reputation of Gurgaon as an investment destination as well as its cosmopolitan image.” They also said that it is the responsibility of the state government and its machinery “to ensure the right of all citizens to practise their religion – a right guaranteed by the Constitution”.

The letter has been signed by eleven former IAS officers, including Sundar Burra, former secretary in Maharashtra government; Harsh Mander, former official of the Madhya Pradesh government; K Sujatha Rao, former health secretary of the government of India; and Ardhendhu Sen, former chief secretary in the West Bengal government.

In the letter, the retired civil servants have listed several recent incidents of attacks at Friday prayers in Gurgaon and said that these “attacks are coordinated, violent and clearly designed to terrorise and intimidate…”

“Over the last one month, Friday namaaz offered by the Muslim community in open spaces have been attacked and disrupted at several locations in Gurgaon district. These attacks have been organised by a dozen or so organisations (including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Kranti Dal, Gorakshak Dal, Hindu Jagaran Manch and Shiv Sena) that have come together under the umbrella of the Hindu Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti.”

“Last Friday a group of hoodlums arrived in four jeeps at a namaaz venue on MG Road and started shouting abusive and provocative slogans at the namaazis. Although a police force was present, it took no action to stop them. On the contrary, the police asked the namaazis to disperse. At a namaaz in Sector 40, the Imam who was leading the prayers was pushed to the ground. People who came for the prayers had no option but to fold up their mats and leave,” read the letter.

“Concerned at this ugly development, citizens of Gurgaon held a meeting today (7thMay). The meeting was attended by around a hundred people from several religious communities. It was decided that a delegation of senior people should meet the Deputy Commissioner to urge him to take action before the situation goes out of control. Some citizens volunteered to be physically present on Fridays at some of the namaaz venues to show solidarity with the worshippers,” the former civil servants wrote in the open letter.

The retired officers, most of them IAS and IPS officers, condemned the statement of Haryana Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar whereby he asked Muslims to offer Namaz at home or mosques. A clarification was later issued by the CM that open prayers can go on if no one objects.

The Uttar Pradesh IAS Association will request centre to consider IAS officers for empanelment as additional secretary and secretary. This has been decided by the association as the state government is delaying in sending requests for central deputation at joint secretary level.

Meanwhile, the association will also urge the state government to reserve the posts of municipal commissioners and vice-chairman of development authorities for officers of the state IAS cadre as this will provide them more exposure in the urban development sector. The issues were discussed in the executive committee meeting held recently.

Association Secretary Alok Kumar emphasises that if officers have shown interest in going on central deputation at joint secretary level, then officers should not be debarred from empanelment at additional secretary and secretary level.

“If officers are not working for at least three years as joint secretary level, they may be debarred from being considered for empanelment as additional secretary and secretary and if the state government delays the applications of state IAS officers, we will plead the union government not to debar the officers who have shown interest in deputation,” a member of the association said.

This was the first meeting of UP IAS Association after its annual general meeting (AGM) held during the IAS Week in December 2017.

Meanwhile, the executive committee has appointed four of its members as joint secretaries. They include Amit Gupta, Pranjal Yadav, Shubhra Saxena and Jagat Raj.

Not to forget, faced with a crunch of IAS officers for Central deputation at the middle management level, the Centre had earlier asked various state cadres to spare a “sufficiently large” number of officers for the posts of deputy secretary and director in government of India. For individual officers, the Centre has offered to grant them preference for appointment as joint secretary, if they have done a Central deputation at the level of deputy secretary/director

To set things right, the Centre has specifically asked the states not to withdraw name of officers, once placed on the offer list for Central deputation, and ensure that he is available for consideration throughout the year. In case the officer fails to join the post after his appointment to the CSS, either due to personal disinclination or refusal of the cadre to relieve him, he would, as per practice, be debarred for the next 5 years. Officers will need to explicitly state reasons for preference for a particular station, besides being free to choose from top three departments of their choice for working under the CSS.