Japanese company alleges fraud, Noida deputy labour chief suspended

NOIDA: At a time when the state is going all-out to woo investors for the Global Investors Summit in February, the UP government has suspended Noida's deputy labour commissioner after a Japanese company having an office in Greater Noida accused him of corruption.
The district administration said the complaint was filed in Lucknow on January 9 by a senior executive of the Japanese screen printing ink company and Dharmendra Kumar Singh was suspended on January 12 after an inquiry by a two-member probe body.
In his complaint, Yukinori Kabe, the director of Seiko Advance India Pvt Ltd, which has an office in Greater Noida's Sector Ecotech 6, alleged that the deputy labour commissioner asked him to meet his subordinate when he went to Singh's office.
Following the complaint, additional labour commissioner Dilip Kumar Singh and deputy labour commissioner (Kanpur zone) R P Gupta, were asked to probe the matter. The two-member team submitted its report the same day.
As per their report, Noida's deputy labour commissioner was negligent to his duties. "He was not directly meeting with the foreign investors and directing them to contact his juniors, which is against the state government's mandate."
A government order said that Singh's act was in violation of Section 3 and 4 (A) of UP Govt Servants Conduct Rules, 1956. "Dharmendra Kumar Singh is suspended with immediate effect for violating rules and maligning the image of the government/department."
Singh has been attached to the Kanpur labour office, post-suspension. The suspension order, however, does not mention if the officer had taken any bribe himself.
Suhas LY, district magistrate, said that the UP government suspended the deputy labour commissioner on Thursday. "The government received a complaint and formed a committee. Based on the committee's report, he was suspended."
Vipin Malhan, president of the Noida Entrepreneurs Association, termed it as "a good move" by the government. "This will send a strong message among other officials that they will face strict action if they are involved in any corrupt practices," he said.