IAS officer Sudarshan Pal Thakur has been the talking point in the state since March, when Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand’s son, Dr Rajendra Prasad, complained he was not accorded proper treatment at the state-run Parakeet resort in Pipli. Recently, Thakur was shunted out as HTDC chief.The government terms the transfer routine, but he isn’t the only official to have paid since the incident. Three employees at the resort have already been suspended and now Thakur has been replaced by Navraj Sandhu.In March this year, Dr Prasad, a senior faculty member at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), visited Parakeet, a tourist complex at Pipli on the Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway. Instead of making arrangements with the HTDC, officials of the Governor’s House reportedly got in touch directly with the person in charge of the Parakeet complex who did not happen to be around when Dr Prasad arrived. The person concerned had apparently not informed the rest of the staff either about the impending visit.Consequently, when Dr Prasad arrived, the employees refused to open a room for him and asked his family to use the facilities available at the restaurant instead. The matter was brought to the notice of the authorities in Chandigarh. Thakur, who was reportedly not informed about the visit, expressed his regrets immediately.But the matter did not end there. As pressure mounted, Thakur suspended three employees at the complex — Prem Vohra, drawing and disbursing Official, V.K. Bhatia, supervisor, and V.S. Punia, counter in-charge — on charges of dereliction of duty. Charge-sheets are yet to be filed against the three.Declining to comment on the issue, Vijay Vardhan, Secretary to the Governor, said he did not want to be dragged into any controversy. ‘‘You better talk to Dr Prasad,’’ he said.Dr Prasad, when contacted over the phone in New Delhi, was a little more forthcoming. Expressing annoyance over the behaviour of the HTDC employees, he said: ‘‘It was not about whether it happened to someone considered a VVIP. Rather, it highlights the fact that if employees behave in such a fashion, corrective steps are certainly required. I have always kept a low profile but what happened was painful. It may have been due to a communication gap but thankfully it is all sorted out now.’’Claiming that Thakur’s transfer was a ‘‘routine’’ affair, Haryana Chief Secretary Lalit Mohan Goel said: ‘‘Once the official concerned is serving in Haryana, he is shuffled in the same manner as any other officer. Those responsible for the incident have already been suspended, but of course the responsibility also falls on the head of the department. But his transfer was as a matter of routine.’’Thakur, when contacted, refused to comment. His successor, Sandhu, expressed ignorance about the incident, saying she had just taken over. However, she said suitable action would be taken against those found guilty in the inquiry, adding that the most important function of a department like tourism is to ensure that basic courtesies are extended to visitors and VIPs.
