A spate of recent incidents of ‘honest’ bureaucrats being shunted out at the behest of pressure groups is becoming an embarrassment to the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh.

• A young IAS officer, Amit Kataria, has been shifted from the post of Raipur Municipal Corporation Commissioner after he faced the wrath of the Mayor. Raipur Mayor Sunil Soni, a BJP leader, had an open spat with Kataria at the Mayor-in-Council (MiC) meeting recently, leading to ruling party leaders mounting pressure on the state government for his removal ahead of the municipal elections scheduled to be held by the end of this year. The Opposition Congress in RMC, meanwhile, rallied behind the Commissioner alleging that he was pressurised to protect the interests of some contractors. Subsequently, the state government shifted him from Municipal Corporation, posting him as CEO of Raipur Development Authority and Deputy Secretary of Housing and Environment Department. “Certainly, Kataria is an honest and upright officer. But, he has to be shifted as the administration has come to a standstill because of the tussle between the Mayor and the Commissioner,” a senior bureaucrat explained.

• Pradhanmantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Chief Executive Officer M L Haldkar has been relieved of his charge after contractors unleashed a two-month-long campaign for his removal. Haldkar—who invited trouble after he stopped payment to contractors and even lodged cases against some of them for construction of sub-standard roads under the centrally sponsored scheme — has been replaced by an Indian Forest Service officer P C Pandey. A controversy had erupted in PMGSY after a local television news channel telecast a video of Haldkar with his wife, alleging that the officer himself had made the film. However, Haldkar lodged a complaint with the police, naming a few contractors, a television journalist and others. In his FIR, he pointed out that he had stopped payment of these contractors after having found that a number of roads constructed under PMGSY were of sub-standard quality.

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