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| After a bureaucrat’s dig at NC Govt, engineer says politicians are thieves | | DCP Aftab attached for his political statement at New Delhi meeting | | AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
SRINAGAR, Jun 13: Even as a Special Secretary to Government has managed to stay put in Forest Department after critising Dr Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference (NC) government in 1996-2002, a similar statement made at a high level official meeting in New Delhi has cost the Development Commissioner (Power) Aftab Ahmed Chewa his top position in Power Development Department today. Taking a serious note of the official’s assertion that in Jammu & Kashmir state politicians were responsible for 70% of the power pilferage, Cabinet has ordered DCP’s attachment and further disciplinary action against him.
Authoritative sources said that Aftab Ahmad Chewa, who has lately assumed the name of Syed Aftab Ahmed, has been relieved from the charge of DC and attached to PDD’s administrative department at Civil Secretariat immediately after the state Cabinet today decided to remove him from the key position, pending further action against him as warranted under Jammu and Kashmir Employees (Conduct) Rules. DCP’s charge has been temporarily given to Commissioner-Secretary Power, Sandeep Nayak.
Even as an official statement said that Aftab Ahmed Chewa had been removed as DCP and attached to PDD’s administrative department, “pending further action against him as warranted under Jammu & Kashmir Employees (Conduct) Rules”, it did not specify the official’s misconduct that had compelled the government to take stern action against him. Informed sources, however, revealed to Early Times that Omar Abdullah’s government had taken strong note of the official’s “political statement” made by him at a high level meeting of Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in New Delhi on May 21st this year.
According to the highly embarrassing minutes of the meeting made available to the state government the other day, DCP had asserted in presence of senior officials and bureaucrats that the politicians in Jammu & Kashmir were responsible for 70% of the power pilferage. When Chief Secretary S S Kapur sought an explanation from Commissioner-Secretary Power, Sandeep Nayak, who was present at the meeting as head of the J&K delegation, he confirmed that DCP had made the critical remarks. Thereafter, government decided to take disciplinary action against the DCP.
With a track record of publicly criticizing the government and mainstream politicians, Aftab had been removed as Chief Engineer Maintenance & Rural Electrification Kashmir earlier this year and attached to J&K State Power Development Corporation. M&RE Kashmir was given as additional charge to Chief Engineer System & Operations, Mushtaq Ahmed Shah, who is still holding it. However, in days of his attachment, Omar Abdullah’s government elevated him to the highest rank of DCP when R K Seli retired from service on April 30th.
Insiders disclosed that in order to keep himself on the high moral pedestal, Aftab had audaciously conveyed to Minister for Rural Development, Ali Mohammad Sagar, to hire a diesel generator when the DCP had been requested to maintain power supply to an area in Srinagar on a particular date of scheduled load-shedding. He had reportedly told one of the Minister’s aides that he would himself bear expenses of the fuel and rentals. However, men in the government had pointed out later how ordinary PDD officials had been making special arrangements of power supply in certain localities after charging fixed amounts from the people holding marriage ceremonies and other functions.
Though officials and bureaucrats have been heard making such critical statements on several occasions in the last five months, it is for the first time that the NC-Congress coalition government has cracked its whip on a subordinate officer. Earlier this year, Special Secretary Forest, Ashraf Bukhari, had subjected Minister of Forest, Mian Altaf, to grave embarrassment with a similar statement at a high level meeting at Civil Secretariat in Jammu. According to those present in the meeting, Bukhari had stated that during Dr Farooq Abdullah’s government in 1996, NC’s politicians and Ministers had issued “blank appointment orders” and the names had been later inserted by those who acquired such orders against cash payment and other considerations.
Taking exception to the junior bureaucrat’s attack on Dr Abdullah’s government, Mian Altaf had removed Bukhari from the meeting and requested the government to send his replacement immediately. Even after Chief Secretary Kapur assured the Minister that needful would be done in a few days, Bukhari reportedly managed to stay with the help of a Principal Secretary to Government and a Commissioner-Secretary to Government. Sources said that Forest Minister has been helplessly trying to get some other official appointed as Special Secretary Forest but has not succeeded.
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