File photo of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal
Accusing the media of glorifying suspended Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, senior Uttar Pradesh minister Mohd Azam Khan said her case was highlighted while other such suspensions went unnoticed.
"The media has projected Durga as Durgaji. Otherwise in such cases, officers from the level of managing director (MD) to chief engineer get suspended and not even a single line is published," Azam, who was in Bareilly on a private visit, told reporters on Thursday night.
The minister said the issue of Ms Nagpal's suspension has been blown out of proportion by the media and added that there would have been no dispute if the district magistrate had also been suspended.
On being asked about the statements made by Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders on running the state without IAS officers, he said the number of such officers would be 1,000 to 2,000, but the country had a population of 125 crores.
"Can't other people run the country," he said.
He added that the civil service system in the country should be done away with as it was established by the British years ago.
Mr Azam blamed the district magistrate for keeping Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in the dark over Ms Nagpal's suspension.
Hitting out at Congress, Mr Azam said the standard of the party has dropped so low that its president Sonia Gandhi was writing a letter for a sub-divisional magistrate. He also blamed the Congress of playing politics by judging its gains and losses, regarding the creation of Telangana and the Food Security Bill.
When asked to comment on the killing of the Indian soldier along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night, he said India's weak foreign policy was to be blamed.