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| Itches of Omar's anti-corruption drive! | | Kundal panel probe officer retires unceremoniously | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Sept 6 : Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Irshad Ahmed Khan superannuated on August 31, 2011 and not even a word was heard of him being greeted by top officers of Jammu and Kashmir forest department.
Forest secretariat did not even bother to send a word of appreciation to former PCCF for the years of service he put in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead, silent advisories were issued from top to bottom, asking officers to refrain from giving a warm farewell to Khan. Though not a word was said but, if forest officers are to be believed, all knew of the consequences of hosting lunch or dinner or even a tea party for Khan.
The man who 'honestly' headed the forest department from July 2006 to October 2009 retired in the same unceremonious manner in which he was ousted from the office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) in October 2009. Officers, too junior to Khan's stature organised a farewell party, attended mostly by friends and close confidents of Khan.
It needs to be mentioned here that when former PCCF P.Patnaik retired, forest department threw innumerable number of parties to accord farewell to Patnaik. Such was the intensity that the then Commissioner/Secretary Forest Sonali Kumar had to publicly ask the officers to return to work and stop organising parties. However, in Khan's case, sources said that top brass preferred remaining mum over farewell.
Ask for the reason and forest department would tell you that Irshad Khan had become notable 'hate figure' of 'forest dukedom' for having exposed corrupt, Machiavellian and well-connected officers. Though certain officers referred the entire expose as 'Khan's campaign to settle personnel scores', his close aides maintain that the retired IFS officer had touched fringes of deep-rooted corruption.
Khan, was architect of iniquitous and administratively insignificant but politically significant 'Kundal Panel Probe' report, which indicted several top officers of forest department. The man took cudgles with high and mighty in the forest department without any fear or favour.
Sources disclosed that it irked all and a powerful lobby of IAS and IFS officer joined hands to ensure 'exit and humiliation' of senior most officer of forest department. Media, the watchdog preferred silence, for reasons and considerations, which have emotional significance. Within nine months of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah taking over the reigns of power, story of Khan's demotion began with him first being relieved of the charge of PCCF and posted as Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW).
This posting was a demotion for Khan since this was a lower grade post. Post of PCCF has fixed grade of Rs.80, 000 while the post of Chief Wildlife Warden had a grade of Rs.75, 500-80,000.
Khan accepted the posting when the grade he was seeking was released to him. Despite knowing that the posting was humiliating for him, official sources said that merely because Forest Minister Mian Altaf, who is known for his integrity, wanted Khan to deliver as Chief wildlife Warden. However, the lobby of IFS and IAS officers kept the tempo up and Khan was further humiliated and dumped as Project Chief Integrated Watershed Development Project (IWDP).
But the facts lie somewhere else. This development puts the forest department in focus again for all the wrong reasons. The previous coalition government headed by Azad was rocked by the political fallout of manipulations between rival political interests pulling strings in opposite directions.
The matter had come to head when the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad stripped the then Forest Minister Qazi Mohammed Afzal of forest portfolio temporarily who inturn charged that Azad had done it to favour his kith and kin who were in the forest business.
Sources close to Khan pointed out that PCCF was also peeved over the fact that recommendations and findings of Kundal Panel probe had been dumped into cold storage and the officers involved had been given prize postings. |
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