Home Dehradun Rajpal Legha gets additional charge as Mining Director; questions arise about department

Rajpal Legha gets additional charge as Mining Director; questions arise about department

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By Arun Pratap Singh

Dehradun, 2 May: One day after Director, Geology & Mining, SL Patrick was suspended, the government has appointed Additional Director Rajpal Legha as the new Director. The government order issued today in this respect makes it clear that this responsibility has been given as additional charge without any additional benefits or allowances and will remain valid till further orders. Even as Legha has been given additional charge as Director, Mining, many questions have arisen regarding the whole mining business in Uttarakhand. In order to find answers to these questions, a deep inquiry needs to be ordered.

The government order today mentions it is expected from Rajpal Legha that, along with his basic duties, he will look after the daily work of the Director, Geology and Mining Directorate.

Developments in the mining department and business in Uttarakhand in the past few months sound more like a film drama rather than reality. The real drama began early in April, when the then Director of Mining, SL Patrick, filed a case against a private individual, Om Prakash Tiwari. Tiwari was accused of holding Patrick hostage and demanding undue favours related to mining contracts. These allegations caused mayhem in the government and smelt of something fishy. The interesting part of the complaint was that Patrick admitted to be in touch with Tiwari, who was introduced to him by the Additional Secretary, Mining.

After Patrick’s suspension, who created the fake kidnapping and ransom story, the government has now given the additional responsibility of Director in the Geology and Mining Directorate to Rajpal Legha, Additional Director.

On 30 April, the government suspended Mining Director Patrick.

Taking cognizance of a WhatsApp chat between Patrick and Tiwari regarding mining related issues, the government has ordered the suspension. The two-page letter of suspension has made several serious allegations against Patrick.

Stories related to the mining game of Patrick and Tiwari are also coming to light. In one case, even the Supreme Court had intervened in a case of one-sided award of mining contracts to favourites. It has now become common to talk about Patrick’s close friends also being involved in the mining business.

Patrick had earlier said that he had met Omprakash Tiwari in the room of an Additional Secretary. The name of this Additional Secretary has not been revealed yet. This also remains a matter of investigation.

After the suspension of the Mining Director, discussions regarding an Additional Secretary have also become heated. Omprakash Tiwari and Patrick had good understanding in mining related matters. But when things went wrong in the transaction, there was a rift between the mining director and Tiwari.

After this, on 14 April, the Mining Director made sensational allegations of kidnapping and ransom against Tiwari. On this issue, Tiwari retaliated and complained about the mining director to the government. An investigation was conducted and Patrick faces suspension before his retirement on June 30.

These incidents present a clear picture of the infiltration of the mining mafia in the department.