In 5 yrs, SP govt shifted IPS officers 2,454 times

Skeletons are now beginning to tumble out of the Samajwadi cupboard.

RTI queries revealed that the Akhilesh government, in the past five years, transferred 407 IPS officers more than 2,454 times. The transfers took place between March 2012 and March 2017.

According to RTI activist Nutan Thakur, IG (personnel) P.C. Meena, in his RTI response, admitted that there are 78 officers who were transferred 10 or more times during this five year period.

The frequent transfers during the previous regime meant that on an average 1.3 IPS officers were transferred every single day for five years. It also means that on an average each IPS was subjected to 6 transfers.

Umesh Kumar Srivastava tops the list after being transferred, 20 times in five years, while Anees Ahmad Ansari with 18 transfers comes a close second.

Similarly, Rajendra Prasad Pandey was transferred 17 times and Dilip Kumar 16 times.

Five IPS officers, including the recently suspended Himanshu Kumar, were transferred 15 times each.

About 215 IPS officers were transferred five or more times during this five year period, according to the information provided to the RTI activist. One IPS officer, Sanjay Tarde, however, was lucky to be transferred only once during this period. Another such officer was Kamal Saxena who remained secretary in the home department for five years.

As per the RTI information, among the IPS officers suspended during this period, IG Amitabh Thakur was suspended for a maximum of 10 months while most others got reinstated within a few days or 2-3 months.

The RTI information further says that in Uttar Pradesh, an IPS officer is transferred 27.3 times during his career.

IG Pramod Kumar Mishra has been transferred 55 times in his entire career of 33 years while IG Vijay Kumar Garg has been transferred 52 times.