http://www.indianexpress.com/news/her-neck-in-danger-heads-of-mayas-officials-roll/592855/
Her neck in danger, heads of Maya’s officials roll Express News Service Posted online: Friday , Mar 19, 2010 at 0251 hrs Lucknow : Currency garlands stay firmly around Mayawati’s neck, but heads have started rolling. Apparently angry over the “negative publicity” generated by the garland at the BSP maharally in Lucknow on March 15, the Chief Minister on Thursday shunted out Additional Cabinet Secretary Vijay Shankar Pandey, who also held the post of Principal Secretary (Information), along with his brother. The 1979-batch IAS officer, who was considered very close to Mayawati and was regarded as one of the most powerful bureaucrats in Uttar Pradesh till recently, has now been made Principal Secretary, Medical and Health. Pandey would continue to hold the additional charge of Principal Secretary, Vocational Education. Mayawati is reportedly unhappy that the giant garland overshadowed everything, including news reports on the rally, particularly in the electronic media. PCS officer Ajay Shankar Pandey, the younger brother of Vijay Shankar, was removed as Municipal Commissioner of Ghaziabad and posted as Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Mathura district. Basant Lal, CDO Mathura, is the new Ghaziabad Municipal Commissioner. Ajay Kumar Upadhaya, the Additional Director of Information Department, who is considered close to Vijay Shankar, also faced the axe. He has been removed and posted as Special Secretary, Finance, in place of Arvind Naryan Mishra, who goes as Additional Director, Information. IAS officer Shailesh Krishna, who held the charge of Principal Secretary (Revenue), would now be Principal Secretary to the CM as well as Principal Secretary (Information). This is Krishna’s third tenure in the CMO under Maya-raj, with his second stint there ending just a month ago. Pradeep Shukla, Principal Secretary (Medical and Health), and Jacob Thomas, Principal Secretary (Food and Civil Supplies), have been asked to join as Principal Secretary (Food and Civil Supplies) and Principal Secretary (Revenue) respectively. While Vijay Shankar called the shots in the CM’s Secretariat till recently, his clout had been considerably reduced after the last reshuffle on February 14. Mayawati had created a second post of Additional Cabinet Secretary and given the charge to Netram, with a direction that all important files to her be routed through him. Vijay Shankar’s role had been reduced to mere monitoring of important development and welfare schemes. IT begins probe into garland The Income Tax Department, Lucknow, has initiated investigation into the cash garland presented to Chief Minister Mayawati at the BSP rally on March 15. The day after, she had ben presented another garland worth Rs 18 lakh. Sources at the IT Department said a deputy director (investigation wing) has been assigned the probe. The team has been delving into the source of the currency notes before issuing notice to the ruling party, an official said. Efforts are also on to get the video footage of the presentation. The notice being drafted includes queries about the sources through which such a huge amount of the currency notes were collected. Besides, the party will also be asked to furnish details about the source of the new currency notes of Rs 1,000 denomination, officials said. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
