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New Delhi: An official order in Madhya Pradesh that referred to controversial "ghanta" remark by Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and the Congress’ allegations amid the Indore water contamination crisis has resulted in the suspension of a senior officer and his assistant.
The row broke out after an order issued by Anand Malviya, the SDM of Dewas, started circulating and went viral.
Officials pointed out that Ujjain Division Revenue Commissioner Ashish Singh suspended the SDM on charges of serious negligence, indifference and irregularities in the discharge of official duties.
Amit Chauhan, Assistant Grade-3 in the SDM office, who framed and typed the order, was also suspended.
The official document was issued to maintain law and order ahead of Congress-led protests over contaminated drinking water in Indore. It referred to the minister’s controversial “ghanta” remark and echoed accusations raised in opposition memorandum.
Officials reportedly said that the SDM had issued an order on Saturday to deploy subordinate revenue staffers to maintain law and order in view of a Congress protest in Dewas on Sunday. “However, the wording of a portion of the Congress memorandum was copied verbatim in the SDM’s order issued for official purposes. This amounts to serious negligence," a senior official was quoted as saying by PTI.
The order alleged that the deaths occurred after people consumed “contaminated and dirty water supplied by the BJP-run municipal corporation” in Indore. “In Indore, due to consumption of contaminated and dirty water supplied by the BJP-run municipal corporation, 14 people have died and 2,800 persons are undergoing treatment,” it read.
The Congress memorandum had hit out at the BJP-led state government over the Indore drinking water crisis, alleging that minister Vijayvargiya’s use of the objectionable term “ghanta” in response to a journalist’s question reflected “inhumanity and authoritarianism”.
The notice issued by SDM while referring to Vijayvargiya’s remarks on the issue, described it as “inhuman and a symbol of authoritarian behaviour”. The order added that the use of the word “ghanta” on such a sensitive matter was “highly objectionable”. It pointed out that the (Congress) State President… Jitu Patwari ji, has taken a decision that in protest against this incident, BJP MPs and MLAs will be gheraoed.
After the order went viral, the Divisional Commissioner of the Ujjain Division suspended Malviya for serious negligence and irregularities in the discharge of his official duties while handling a highly sensitive matter.
As per the suspension order issued by the Office of the Commissioner, Ujjain Division, on Monday, the official directive was issued without proper verification, based on information received on January 3 about a proposed protest.
