Can Class II officer 'instruct' Class I officer: Two UP officials engage in face off over use of word

An apparent wrong use of the word "nirdeshit" in a letter triggered a verbal duel between two officials in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkarnagar district with a PWD executive engineer, a Class I officer, wondering if he can be "instructed" by a Class II officer.

The matter, however, got "amicably resolved" when District Magistrate Avinash Singh intervened.

It all started on September 16 with the then Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Jalalpur in Ambedkarnagar district, located almost 217 kilometre from state capital Lucknow, Sunil Kumar, writing to the executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), Ambedkarnagar, M K Anil.

In the letter, Kumar (now transferred to Ballia as a routine process) said, "This is to inform you that bushes and branches of trees have come up on the Malipur to Jalalpur road. Owing to this, there is a high probability of accidents on the said road." "In view of the above (scenario), you are instructed ('nirdeshit') to get the branches and bushes grown and hanging on the sides of the road cleared, so that possibility of accidents can be minimised," the SDM wrote to Anil.

In his letter addressed to the SDM, Anil said, "You have been selected by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC), and you are a Class II officer, while the current undersigned (executive engineer of the PWD) has been selected by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission and posted as a Class I officer in the UP government." "Kindly clarify that under which manual of the Uttar Pradesh government, a Class II officer can 'instruct' a Class I officer, an effort, which has been made through your letter," Anil wrote in his letter dated September 22.

"Have you made available any budget to clear the Jalalpur-Malipur road of bushes and branches of trees," the executive engineer of the PWD sought to know in his letter.

Anil also asked the SDM (in his letter) that under which head the funds will be used, so that the said work could be done at the earliest.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate Avinash Singh, when contacted, told PTI on Saturday the SDM and the Executive Engineer informed him that it was a "typographical" error and miscommunication, which led to the situation.

"This has been amicably resolved through talks in a cordial atmosphere," the District Magistrate said.

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