NK'S POST

DB Post 6 November 2016 NK SINGH It is not only Digvijaya Singh and Asaduddin Owaisi who suspect that the encounter in which  eight SIMI undertrial terrorists were killed was “fake”. Anyone who has seen or heard those video or audio clips, springing up in social media in a mysterious manner, may deduce that the killings could have been avoided. It establishes that had the police tried a little harder it could have captured alive the fugitives who had escaped from Bhopal central jail after slitting the throat of a guard. But the enraged cops were in no mood to feed more Biryani to these terrorists, who had escaped from jail earlier too and who were accused of murdering several of their colleagues. Faced with uncomfortable questions and damning revelations propping up with regular frequency, the Madhya Pradesh Government has ordered a judicial enquiry in the jailbreak and the encounter. Those attacking the BJP Government in MP on this issue may fe...

NK SINGH The decision to appoint Sudhi Ranjan Mohanty as the new chief secretary of MP, was taken soon after the Congress returned to power in MP. However, the new government refrained from posting him as Officer On Special Duty, waiting in the wings to take over as CS, as has become customary in recent years.  Mohanty was himself averse to the idea of moving into the hot seat early. Hence official orders were issued at the last hour even as many kept guessing.  But some people did not want to keep guessing. The moment Mohanty's name started making rounds as a probable candidate for the top post, they tried to sabotage his chances.  Soon after the change in the government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's office started getting petitions to stop Mohanty's appointment as chief secretary, according to a source in AICC.  But those petitions failed to stop Mohanty's resurrection. Apparently, the new Government wanted to make amends for the BJP Government'...

NK SINGH The opposition Congress party has objected to the extension in service given to Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary BP Singh. MPCC chief Kamal Nath complained to Election Commission this week that the BJP government was trying to “influence the process of free and fair elections” by extending Singh’s tenure by six months.  Singh was supposed to retire on June 30, but last week the government decided to delay his superannuation till the end of the year. The six month extension to the Chief Secretary would cover the period of forthcoming assembly elections, due by November this year. The Congress alleged that the Chief Secretary’s tenure was increased “to use his administrative clout” for the upcoming polls.  Although the CS was not directly involved in election work, argued Nath, “he has direct control over officers who are assigned with election duty.”  The Congress, said the letter to the EC, had “reasonable apprehension that the Chief Secretar...

Diggy makes 110 announcement in two months आधार पुख्ता करने के लिए दिग्विजय सिंह की रिकाॅर्ड घोषणाएं NK SINGH मध्य प्रदेश  के मुख्यमंत्री दिग्विजय सिंह की तेजी के आगे बेचारा कार्ल लुइस भी पानी भरता नजर आए। अभी उन्हें काम संभाले दो महीने ही हुए और उनहोंने 110 घोषणाएं कर डाली हैं, कई परियोजनाओं का उद्घाटन कर दिया है। इस तेजी की प्रशंसा भी हो रही है और आलोचना भी। हाल में हुए सतना विधानसभा उनचुनाव में कांग्रेसी उम्मीदवार भाजपा के हाथों हार गया तो पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री सुदंरलाल पटवा ने कहा, ‘‘सिर्फ आकर्षक घोषणाएं करके वे लोगों को मूर्ख नहीं बना सकते।‘‘ लेकिन क्या यह सब मात्र लोगों को मूर्ख बनाने के लिए है। मुख्यमंत्री दिग्विजय सिंह कांग्रेसी चुनाव घोषणापत्र के 199 वादे पूरे कर चुके हैं। वे कहते हैं, ‘‘ये घोषणाएं हमारे चुनावी वादे के अंग हैं और मैंने पूरी जिम्मेदारी के साथ ये घोषणाएं की हैं।" बिजली की दर बढ़ाकर राज्य सरकार आमदनी के उस नुकसान की भरपाई कर सकती है जो सिंचाई के लिए मुफ्त बिजली देने से होगी। उनकी एक बड़ी उपलब्धि नर्मदा के विस्थापितों को बसाने के लिए बनी समिति में शा...

मुख्यमंत्री से उद्घाटन के इंतजार में तैयार पुल बंद NK SINGH झांसी घाट में नर्मदा नदी पर 1.70 करोड़ रू. की लागत से बना पुल लोगों के रोष का सबब बन गया है। पिछले मार्च में मध्य प्रदेश के नरसिंहपुर जिले में बना यह पुल इटारसी और जबलपुर के बीच 320 किमी लंबे रास्ते पर है, जिसका शिलान्यास 1976 में हुआ और निर्माण कार्य 1986 में शुरू  हुआ। यह अभी भी यातायात के लिए औपचारिक रूप से खुलना है। वजहः मुख्यमंत्री सुन्दरलाल पटवा अभी इसका उद्घाटन करने का वक्त नहीं निकाल पाए है। पर लोग इंतजार नहीं कर सके। ट्रक, बस, कार - जो भी इससे जा सकते थे - जाने लगे। पूर्व इंका सांसद अजय मुशरान ने तो इसका उद्घाटन ही कर डाला। जैसा कि वे कहते हैं, ‘‘तैयार पुल को बंद रखना हास्यास्पद ही है।" इससे सत्तारूढ़ पार्टी इतनी परेशान हो गई कि उसने जिला प्रशासन  को पुल पर यातायात प्रतिबंधित करने का हुक्म दे दिया। और जब लोग नहीं माने तो पुलिस तैनात कर दी गई। इस खबर के लिखे जाते समय पुल को जोड़ने वाली सड़क काट दी गई थी। भाजपा विधायक अंचल सोनकर कहते हैं, ‘‘मुख्यमंत्री ने पुल का उद्घाटन करने का वादा किया है। और ...

NK SINGH • An elderly pilgrim to Ujjain is beaten up, publicly humiliated and forced to clean his faeces with his own hands after he is found relieving himself on the ghats of Kshipra river. The Ujjain municipal corporation employees upload the video on social media as part of their “public shaming” campaign for making the town open defecation free. As they film his humiliation, they chuckle, asking the old man to show his face to the camera. • As part of their “public shaming” exercise, Narsinghgarh municipal employees try to film a teenaged girl when she goes out to answer call of nature. The girl objects and threatens to break their mobiles. Next day a government officer visits her house. The girl later complains to the police that the officer slapped her. • Two villagers in Khargone district are arrested after they question the Collector’s claim that their municipality has been declared ODF. They point out that there are many houses where toilets have not been constr...

NK SINGH One of the endearing images of the Global Investment Summit at Indore in 2014 was the electrifying speech made by the founder of the Jaypee group, Jaiprakash Gaur, at the fag end of the conference attended by 7,000 persons.  The octogenarian doyen of the industry captivated his audience by narrating his fascinating rags to riches story, the mesmerising story of the rise of a lowly irrigation department overseer as head of one of India ’s biggest infrastructure conglomerate. The wily businessman, ranked as the 48 th richest person in India by Forbes in 2010, shared details about his strong bonds with Madhya Pradesh and announced an investment of Rs 35,000 crore in the State. (Jaypee group enjoys excellent rapport with politicians and top bureaucrats of MP and UP.)  The CEO and lesser mortals assembled for the event gave a standing ovation to Gaur. There was a slight problem. Gaur simply did not have any money. He certainly did not have Rs 35...

NK SINGH As chief minister, Digvijay Singh did not keep a single department with him while distributing portfolios among his ministerial colleagues. “I am a chief minister without a portfolio,” he would proclaim proudly, claiming that his role was limited to “supervision and co-ordination”. He flaunted the “ultimate” sacrifice of power for the sake of decentralisation. But in reality nothing would move in the Government without Digvijay Singh’s permission. The CM was without a portfolio but controlled everything with the help of his omnipotent secretariat. I have seen MLAs touching feet of one of his secretaries before taking oath as a minister of Digvijay government. Everything revolved around the CM and his secretariat. History repeats itself, said Marx, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. We are witnessing a situation in Madhya Pradesh, again, where everything revolves around the chief minister and his powerful and ever-growing secretariat. Rats eat c...

NK SINGH Two additional commissioners of Bhopal Municipal Corporation were all over social media last week after they were unceremoniously packed off to their parent departments. An enquiry committee had found them allegedly guilty of issuing completion certificates to incomplete buildings last year. The certificates helped builders avoid coming under the purview of MP Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). The brazen effort to help builders made RERA chief Anthony de Sa, a former chief secretary of the state, livid and he had lodged a complaint at with the government. The two shunted officers, aggrieved by the corporation’s unilateral decision, gave vent to their anguish in social media. Both of them belong to State Administrative Service and there was an outpouring of sympathy for them from friends and fellow officers. Their main grievance was that they were not heard before pronouncing the verdict. Malika Nigam, among those who were packed off, commented on Fa...