Jaipur, Sep 23 (IANS): In a major administrative reshuffle, the Rajasthan government ordered the transfer and posting of 22 IAS and 58 IPS officers in the state, and also appointed a DIG for the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) after a gap of six years.
In a late-night development, the government ordered the reshuffling of top officers. The Superintendents of Police have been changed for 15 districts and two Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) have also been changed. However, those seven Assembly seats going for bypolls have been left untouched and there has been no shuffling here.
Ajay Lamba has been given charge of Udaipur Range IGP.
The most interesting development is the appointment of Kailash Bishnoi as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the JDA. This appointment has been made after six years in JDA. Officials told IANS that earlier this position was filled, however, in the last six years it has been lying vacant.
The JDA has been in controversy for some time after a raid by the ACB team on the offices and residences of some officials in August. A bribery racket was exposed here in Zone 9 of the JDA.
During the probe, some JDA officials revealed that similar rackets were prevalent in each of the 19 zones of the civic body. Sources said a few officials in JDA made it mandatory for residents to pay bribes to get their work done.
Soon after the raid, the Urban Development and Housing (UDH) Department Minister Jhabar Singh Kharra, at the start of September sent an SOS to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma to depute police officials for the enforcement wing of Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), which officials said was reeling under acute manpower crisis.
“I request the chief minister to depute three deputy superintendent-ranked officers and at least 10 inspector-ranked officers in the enforcement wing of JDA at the earliest,” the letter stated. In the letter, Kharra said the presence of police department officers is mandatory during effective legal action by the civic body to protect government land and to stop illegal construction, encroachment of public places and construction of illegal colonies. Therefore, it is essential to fill the vacant posts immediately.
Officials said that the raid in August and subsequent arrests were not new to JDA. In February 2022, ACB also caught officials from Zone 4 of the civic body. Five officials, including an RAS officer serving as the divisional commissioner, were arrested during that raid.