Ayodhya GST Deputy Commissioner under probe over alleged fake disability certificate: Official
Mau (UP) (PTI): Prashant Kumar Singh, who resigned as GST Deputy Commissioner on Tuesday in protest against alleged "objectionable" remarks by Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is under probe over the authenticity of his disability certificate, an official said here.
Mau Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Sanjay Gupta said on Wednesday that a complaint seeking re-examination of Singh's disability certificate was filed in 2021, and the investigation was being conducted at multiple levels, including the Health Department, the Office of the Divyangjan Ayog and higher administrative authorities.
After Prashant Kumar Singh announced his resignation in Ayodhya, where he has been posted, his brother Vishwajeet Singh alleged before the media that the GST officer had secured his government job using a fake disability certificate.
According to the CMO, the disability certificate in question was issued in 2009. A complaint seeking re-examination of the certificate was filed in 2021, and since then, the verification process has been underway.
“This matter has been in my knowledge since 2021 and the inquiry process has been continuing since then,” Gupta said.
He said that following the complaint, the officer was summoned twice before the divisional disability medical board for assessment of around 40 per cent disability, but he failed to appear on both occasions.
Gupta said that on December 19, the Health Department issued an official letter seeking directions from the Director General of Health Services in the matter.
A copy of the letter was also sent to the complainant, Vishwajeet Singh.
The entire case has been communicated to the office of the Divyangjan Ayog, Gupta said, adding that all required procedures at their level have been completed and further action will be taken after receiving instructions from higher authorities.
Responding to claims that the disability pertains to an eye-related condition considered rare even at the age of 50, the CMO said that only an expert medical board can give a final and authentic opinion on such issues.
"There is no pressure on me of any kind. The entire process is being carried out in a transparent manner and strictly as per rules,” Gupta said, adding that the matter is currently pending before the Divyangjan Commissioner, the Health Directorate and other higher institutions concerned.
Further action will be initiated once directions are received, he said
Singh had on Tuesday resigned in protest against Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand's alleged "objectionable" remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying that he was deeply hurt by what he described as recent attempts to divide the country on the basis of caste and religion.
Singh said that he was stepping down in support of the government, the Constitution and the country's elected leadership.
"From the holy land of Prayagraj, Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand has made objectionable remarks against our state's elected leader, who is constitutionally holding the post," he said.
As a government servant bound by service rules, Singh said, he could not remain indifferent to such developments, he had said.
Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati had lashed out at Chief Minister Adityanath after police allegedly stopped him and his followers from going in a chariot for a holy dip in the Ganga during the Magh Mela in Prayagraj on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya on January 18.
A day later, the Magh Mela administration issued a notice to Avimukteshwaranand, asking how he was projecting himself as the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth despite a Supreme Court order saying that no religious leader could be anointed as Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth until the disposal of an appeal.
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NCP leaders seek Maharashtra cabinet berth for Ajit Pawar's wife; rival camp favours merger talks
Mumbai (PTI): A day after Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash, leaders of his party NCP on Thursday pushed for a state cabinet berth for his wife Sunetra, while Opposition NCP (SP) signalled it wasn't averse to taking forward efforts for merger of rival groups.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders also suggested that Sunetra Pawar should step forward and lead the outfit, which is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP.
Senior NCP leader and FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal said it is people's wish that late Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra, a Rajya Sabha member, be inducted into the state ministry.
Asked about the NCP's future after the untimely death of Ajit Pawar, who was also the party president, Zirwal told a Marathi news channel that people want "vahini" (sister-in-law, referring to Sunetra Pawar) to be made a cabinet member.
"We will talk to our leadership about it (inducting Sunetra in cabinet) and take a decision,'' Zirwal, who was a close confidant of Ajit Pawar, said after the late politician's funeral in his hometown Baramati in Pune district.
To a question on the merger of the rival groups, ruling ally NCP and Opposition NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar, he noted, ''The two factions are already together (for local body polls). Everyone has realised that there was no point in remaining scattered and we have to be together.''
Another NCP leader and Ajit Pawar confidante, Pramod Hindurao, maintained Sunetra Pawar should carry forward the legacy of her husband and take care of party workers.
Sunetra Pawar, who fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on an NCP ticket, had lost to Supriya Sule, NCP (SP) working president and Sharad Pawar's daughter, in Baramati.
Meanwhile, state NCP (SP) president Shashikant Shinde told PTI that Ajit Pawar had himself spoken about sitting together and taking a decision on merger of the two NCPs after municipal and local body polls in Maharashtra.
Preliminary talks had already taken place in regard to merger, Shinde stated.
''When we had met for an alliance of the two parties for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad corporation elections (which took place on January 15), he (Ajit) had said lets sit together and discuss (merger) after Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls (scheduled on February 5)," he said.
"Ajit dada (elder brother) was an emotional man and wanted the two factions to come together and the (Pawar) family to remain united. He had felt enough was enough. If the family and parties want a reconciliation, we have no problem. Now, we have to see if we can fulfil what became his last wish," Shinde said.
Asked if the NCP (SP) was ready to join the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP, Shinde evaded a direct reply.
"Nothing can be said as of now. Lets see if there is a positive outcome of efforts towards fulfilling Ajit dada's wish (of merger). The issue of whether NCP (SP) leaders would like to be in the ruling alliance can be discussed later,'' he insisted.
Ajit Pawar (66) and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed at the Baramati airport in Pune district on Wednesday.
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar had joined the then-Eknath Shinde-led government, triggering a split in the NCP co-founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar.
