The Hindu : National : Priyanka frowns on transfer of official

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Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

National

National

Priyanka frowns on transfer of official

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 23. Priyanka Vadra, daughter of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has denounced the transfer order served on Kewal Krishna Chug, a programme officer with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), who was shifted for having mis-spelt `Vadra' as `Vadhera' on an invitation card sent to her recently.

In a letter to the ICCR Director-General today, Ms. Vadra said she was "appalled" that Mr. Chug had been transferred for mis-spelling her name.

`Trivial thing'

"It has never ever occurred to me to complain against anyone for such a ridiculously trivial thing. I am shocked, to say the very least, that Mr. Chug has been penalised in this manner. Indeed, I fail to understand how all this has come about."

"I have made some inquiries in my office but have not been able to trace the source of any such complaint. Therefore, I would be grateful if you could inform me who exactly has complained to you. I would also like to state categorically that if any such complaint has originated from my office, it has been done without my consent and without my knowledge," she added.

Ms. Vadra, who also spoke to Mr. Chug this morning, urged the ICCR Director-General that if in reality this was the reason for Mr. Chug's transfer, she would be very grateful if he could prevent him from being harassed any further. While writing the invitation card, Mr. Chug had spelt `Vadra' as `Vadhera', which reportedly led to his transfer from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram. The invitation was related to the presentation ceremony for the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding to the Singapore Prime Minister on June 27.

The transfer order forced Mr. Chug to move the Delhi High Court stating that he had got the wrong spelling from 10 Janpath, the official residence of Ms. Gandhi, and the MTNL Directory Service. The Court stayed the transfer order calling it mala fide and arbitrary.

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