Milkman’s son Ravikant Singh, his clean chit to fellow IAS Durga Nagpal, his transfer…

ON Wednesday, 2008 batch UP cadre IAS and district magistrate Kumar Ravikant Singh was transferred from Gautam Budh Nagar, the UP district that generates 25% of the state’s total revenue and houses plants of multinational companies such as Daewoo Motor, Honda, BPL, LG, HCL etc., a reason why state political bigwigs don’t want independent-minded bureaucrats to rule there for long. Singh is now wait-listed, meaning that…
he has no office to attend till he gets a new posting.
When Singh cracked the civil services examinations a few years ago, he became an instant news-maker in Bihar. The blogs and news reports written on him described how this milkman’s son grew up in extreme poverty in Bihar’s Ara district. Singh lost his mother when he was a child. He and his five siblings grew up amid financial hardship till he cleared the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examination to become a clerk. Singh was working at Ukhra railway station in West Bengal’s Burdwan district when he got the appointment letter to proceed for Mussoorie's IAS academy, LBSNAA. His batch-mate Keshvendra Kumar was also a railway booking clerk in West Bengal when he cracked IAS. Kumar was allotted the Kerala cadre.
Remember, it was Singh, who gave a clean chit to IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who was suspended in July for allegedly ordering demolition of a wall of a religious shrine in her sub-division within Gautam Budh Nagar, popularly called Noida. Actually, Nagpal was framed as she had launched a massive drive against illegal sand mafia in her sub-division, thereby inviting the wrath of a section of political class who derive benefits from the lords of illegal sand-mining.
But Singh, Nagpal’s boss, said in his report that the wall was demolished by villagers themselves. He found no JCB machine which could have probably been used for demolishing the wall. In other words, she was exonerated by the DM’s report which strengthened her argument for revocation of the suspension order.
In fact, some senior leaders of Samajwadi Party wanted Singh to "go" as well after he had allegedly leaked his report to media. Earlier this month, senior SP leader and state urban development minister Azam Khan lashed out at Singh accusing him of violating civil services code by making the DM report public. Khan claimed that it was a confidential report which should not have been made public.
But how can the state government get rid of yet another young, bright officer from the district when there was nothing against him? Singh is senior to Nagpal by two batches, but in age he is also 28-year-old.
On Tuesday, the residents at Sorkha village located at Sector 115 of Noida pelted stones and set ablaze police vehicles to protest against a demolition drive in the locality. Being the administrative head of the district, Singh landed up at the site and pacified the mob. Though there is no official reason why Singh was transferred without arranging an alternative posting, The Tuesday's incident was considered to the official “excuse” for transferring Singh.
Singh had earlier served as SDM of Naraini sub-division, and then a joint magistrate in Banda and Muzaffarnagar, both located in UP. Later, he became chief development officer of the city of Meerut.
Earlier this month, Nagpal’s husband and 2011 batch IAS Abhishek Singh was also shifted out of the district. He is now posted at Jhansi.