Education:
Durga Shakti Nagpal belongs to Chattisgarh and has a degree in computer engineering. She secured an all-India rank of 20 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations in 2009. She spent over two years in Punjab as an officer-under-training with the Mohali administration.
Career:
Ms. Nagpal was initially an officer in the Punjab cadre, and she changed to Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre after her marriage to Abhishek Singh, who was an IAS officer in the UP cadre. She was posted in Ghaziabad as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in September 2012. She then got appointed as SDM of Gautam Budh Nagar. She came into public notice after acting against the sand mafia in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The 2009-batch IAS officer, posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gautam Budh Nagar, had clamped down on illegal mining and taken on the powerful sand mafia by forming special flying squads to stop the illegal sand-mining in the Yamuna and Hindon river banks. She had ordered the arrest of 15 people and imposed a fine of INR2 crore (US$338,000) on them. She had confiscated 24 dumpers and 300 trolleys which were engaged in the illegal operation in the week preceding her suspension.
She was suspended ten months into her first posting in the state. Justifying the suspension of Ms. Nagpal, the government said in a statement that she was suspended for demolishing a wall at a disputed place of worship without following legal process. She is currently posted at the Board of Revenue in Lucknow.
Controversy:
Ms. Nagpal was suspended after she inspected an under-construction maosque in the Rabupura area of Greater Noida. The construction of the mosque had not been cleared by the state government. It is alleged that Samajwadi party leader Narendra Bhati was unhappy about the officer's drive against illegal mining and her strong action against the sand-mining mafia in the state, and was reportedly responsible for getting her abruptly suspended. Due to her percieved work against corruption, she falls into the list of civil services officers like Satyendra Dubey and Ashok Khemka who have fought against corruption in various levels of the Indian administration and have faced backlash for their work.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal came out in support of Ms. Nagpal on 29 July 2013. He said that the decision of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh clearly suggested that politics and politicians are turning dirty. Mr. Kejriwal maintained that whistle blowers and honest officers are not allowed to do their job freely. "Whatever took place with Durgaji is extremely wrong. She was raising her voice and acting against the sand mafia, this was her duty. How many officers are there in the country who work honestly against corruption today? The government should be supporting these officers instead of suspending her," he said. Social media and Kiran Bedi protested against the IAS officer's suspension.Several IAS officers have now come out in support of Ms. Nagpal, and have asked the Chief Secretary to revoke her suspension.The All India IAS Association, a national body of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, termed the government's actions "wrong" and believes that Ms. Nagpal was suspended due to her stringent actions which hurt the sand-mafia. It has demanded immediate revocation of her suspension, and called the incident "demoralising" for young IAS officers.The collective voicing of these concerns by the state's IAS officers was deemed unusual and surprised the ruling Samajwadi Party. Senior officers have attributed this backlash to the general feeling of discontentment in the officer cadre, which they say is due to increasing political interference in public administration.The opposition parties in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party accused the state government of ignoring the rule of law and protecting criminals.
