Nod for slaughterhouses behind sudden shunting of top U.P. bureaucrat?
Manoj Singh, who headed the department since June 2021, was divested of his charge and put on the waiting list on Sunday, causing shock in bureaucratic circles here
Was the annoyance of the powers that be in Uttar Pradesh with the permission given for the opening of a slaughterhouse and the expansion of two, allegedly “without following due process”, behind the sudden removal of Manoj Singh from the post of additional chief secretary (ACS) forest, environment and climate change, just seven weeks before his retirement?
Manoj Singh, who headed the department since June 2021, was divested of his charge and put on the waiting list on Sunday, causing shock in bureaucratic circles here.
In addition, two officials at the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) -- Anil Kumar Mathur and Vivek Rai -- were suspended on Sunday over granting of consent to establish (CTE) and consent to operate (CTO) to the three slaughterhouses allegedly in gross violation of rules.
Since the Yogi government came to power in 2017, slaughterhouses have been a sensitive issue as the government is focused on safeguarding the cattle population in the state.
Hindustan Times has accessed key documents that suggested the sudden shunting of Singh, a 1989-batch IAS officer, was linked to clearance to two slaughterhouses in central UP and one in western UP -- AOV Exports Pvt. Ltd Unnao, Al-Haq Foods Unnao and Al-Nasir Exports Ghaziabad.
The chief minister was annoyed that due process was not followed in giving the nod to slaughterhouses, people aware of the matter in the bureaucracy said.
The matter was related to the opening of one slaughterhouse and the expansion of two, said a senior officer aware of the development.
“In such a case, as per the directives of the Supreme Court, a committee headed by the ACS or secretary, urban development department, is first sent a proposal. This committee seeks the opinion of the district administration, where the slaughterhouse is proposed, and from the animal husbandry department,” the officer said.
“In these cases, no proposal was sent to the committee,” said the officer who did not wish to be named.
The process of granting the clearances was conducted in August-September this year, another person in the know of things said.
The step against Singh could be linked with the fact that the officials eventually suspended were being earlier protected by some top officers resorting to delaying tactics, other officials privy to the matter said.
The issue was brewing since the second week of October when the grant of CTE and CTO to the three slaughterhouses, in gross violation of rules, came to the fore before the state government, officials aware of the development said.
On October 14, Manoj Singh had sought an explanation from Anil Kumar Mathur, environment engineer at UPPCB, and Vivek Rai, the chief environment officer at UPPCB, via a letter (to which HT has access) sent to the member-secretary UPPCB. This was perceived to be an effort by the then ACS Singh to distance himself from the whole saga, those in the know of things claimed.
His letter to the UPPCB member-secretary came four-days after chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh on October 10 pointed out the anomalies in issuing CTO and CTE to slaughterhouses.
For now, charge of forest and environment has been given to Anil Kumar-III, a principal secretary rank officer who is already holding charge of labour, employment, geology and mining.
Mathur and Rai have been attached with UPPCB headquarters after their suspension.
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