By IANS,
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday gave a key slot to a top bureaucrat who figures among the accused in the Taj Corridor scandal.
R.K. Sharma, who was allegedly embroiled in the infamous Rs.175 crore Taj Corridor scam and was posted as principal secretary of the panchayati raj department, has been elevated as the state’s agriculture production commissioner-cum-additional chief secretary.
He was charge-sheeted in the Taj Corridor case on account of his controversial role as the then state environment secretary. Sharma was hauled up for giving clearance to the proposed construction along the Yamuna river bank behind Taj Mahal, the 17th century architectural wonder.
The new postings were announced by the state government Saturday evening.
The reshuffle in Mayawati’s inner coterie was further pronounced with the ouster of her one time favourite bureaucrat Shailesh Krishna, who has been shifted from the chief minister’s secretariat to the revenue department as principal secretary.
The chief minister has also split the all important position of additional cabinet secretary by creating a parallel position and entrusting the charge to her close confidante Net Ram. That naturally dilutes the position of crusader IAS officer Vijay Shankar Pandey, who was the sole additional cabinet secretary so far. Significantly, Net Ram will continue to hold charge of the key departments of exise, sugar industries and cane development.
Two officers, widely acclaimed as upright and competent have been inducted into the chief minister’s office as principal secretaries. These are Durga Shankar Misra and R.P.Singh. While Misra will continue to hold his existing charge of the state’s drug controller, Singh has been brought from the department of revenue where he was principal secretary.
Anil Sant, yet another secretary in the CM’s office has been entrusted with additional charge as secretary (finance), while controversial bureaucrat K.K. Sinha who was principal secretary (general administration) was shifted to the key ministry of agriculture.