‘Upset’ joint secretaries meet Rajiv Mehrishi

Perturbed with the suspension of an IAS officer, four senior officers in the home ministry have conveyed to Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi that action against joint secretary G.K. Dwivedi for the alleged lapses by his juniors in FCRA licence renewal of Zakir Naik’s NGO was demoralising and harsh on an honest officer.

Coming out in support of Mr Dwivedi, who was serving as joint secretary (foreigners) in the home ministry, the four senior officers, all joint secretaries, told Mr Mehrishi on Saturday that his suspension was a “gross miscarriage of justice” towards an officer who has been diligently doing his job and has successfully implemented several ambitious projects of the government.

Mr Dwivedi, along with three of his junior officers, were suspended three days ago after the government found that the FCRA licence of an NGO run by controversial Islamic preacher Naik was renewed by the home ministry’s foreigners division headed by him (Dwivedi) at a time when he is being probed for allegedly radicalising youth and luring them towards extremism.

According to sources, the four joint secretaries told the Union home secretary that the integrity of Mr Dwivedi was beyond any question and such action against a senior officer for alleged lapses of his juniors would send a wrong signal. Mr Dwivedi has been credited with successfully implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s several key projects, including TVoA (tourist visa on arrival), enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), popularly known as e-tourist visa scheme that led to a 293 per cent jump in foreign tourist arrivals in India. The scheme was launched on November 27, 2014 and is currently offered to citizens of 150 countries.

Mr Dwivedi was also instrumental in completely overhauling the registration process of NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act and making it online and transparent.