The senior Uttar Pradesh official, who had exposed corruption in his department and refused to accept promotion to the IAS rank, has been shunted to an insignificant post.
Harishankar Pandey, special secretary in the Rural Engineering Services (RES), has been moved to the insignificant National Integration department after a minister from his department — Rajendra Singh Rana — sought his transfer as he was reportedly unhappy with him.
The undeterred official, however, shot off letters to his colleagues asking them not to ‘run after IAS’ terming it a ‘dirty pond’ and said there had been an erosion of values in the Indian Administrative Services over the years.
“There is no point in accepting the offer to join the IAS if it comes too late and just as a decorative thing. There is a need to introspect,” Pandey said in his letter to the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officers of the state.
“The glorious tradition of IAS officers taking stand on issues is on the wane and it is being replaced with making compromises,” he said.
His letter comes at a time when the state government has promoted as many as 112 PCS officers to the IAS cadre.
Pandey was allegedly being harassed by his superiors after he had exposed corruption in his department and also brought to light the wrongdoings of a senior official.
He had found that senior official Uma Shankar Singh had reduced his age by six years by tampering with records during the previous Mayawati regime. He had recommended that Singh be suspended and an FIR be registered against him.
Sources said RES minister Rana wanted him to be shunted from the department as he found him uncooperative.
Pandey had also written to the government apprehending a huge scam in the RES department and cited the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to buttress his contention.
He also sought a thorough probe into the alleged scam.
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