Absent during chief secretary’s surprise visit, IAS among three Jaipur Development Authority officers removed

Jaipur, January 23

An IAS officer and two RAS officers were on Tuesday removed and placed under Awaiting Posting Orders (APO) status after they were found absent during Rajasthan Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant’s surprise visit to the Jaipur Development Authority office, according to sources.

Pant arrived at the JDA office at 10 am on Tuesday and conducted an inspection of the office.

JDA Secretary Nalini Kathotia (Indian Administrative Service officer), Additional Commissioner Anandi Lal Vaishnav and Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar (Rajasthan Administrative Service officers) were absent from duty during the visit, the sources said.

Pant then enquired about pendency of files, saw other arrangements in the office and expressed his displeasure over laxity in work, they said.

He instructed JDA Commissioner Manju Rajpal to take action against officers showing carelessness in work and to improve the condition of the office, including cleanliness, they added.

Later in the day, the Department of Personnel issued orders putting Kathotia, Vaishnav and Kumar under APO status till further orders.

The officers were asked to report to the department. The order, however, did not mention a reason for the action.