The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuedsay removed the state’s Haj Committee Secretary RP Singh, days after he got the the Haj office’s boundary walls repainted from saffron to white, PTI reported. Singh, who was the joint director in the minority welfare directorate, will be replaced by assistant director of the welfare directorate Vineet Srivastav.
On January 5, the outer walls of the Haj House in Lucknow was painted saffron. However, a day later, the committee had claimed that the contractor had chosen the wrong colour and repainted the wall back to white. At the time, the Haj Committee had said that Singh had taken “immediate cognisance of the matter”.
On January 11, Minister for Haj and Muslim Waqf Board Mohsin Raza had issued a notice to Singh seeking explanation on the repainting. “When a saffron coat was already given, then under which circumstances there was a need to change the colour, and on whose orders was the colour changed?” the notice read, according to PTI. “Who is responsible for the second coat of paint, and who will bear the cost for the second coat of paint?”
The minister sought to know why the Haj Committee had issued a press release regarding the confusion over the colour of paint. “According to the press release, action was to be initiated against the contractor. Hence, what action has been initiated against the contractor,” he asked.
On Tuesday, Raza said Singh is expected to submit a reply within 10 days to his notice. “If any wrongdoing is found, then further action will be taken against RP Singh,” The Indian Express quoted Raza as saying.
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