Naik NGO case: IAS officer GK Dwivedi gets posting

Senior bureaucrat G K Dwivedi, whose suspension over renewal of license of an NGO run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik was revoked recently, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in Department of Land Resources as part of a major mid-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre.

Besides him, 17 other officers have been appointed as Joint Secretaries in various central government departments.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved appointment of Dwivedi to the post till September next year, when he completes five year of central deputation period, an order by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

Dwivedi, a 1993-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre and earlier posted as Joint Secretary in Foreigners Division of the Home Ministry, was suspended along with three others on September 1, after it came to light that the licence of Islamic Research Foundation, headed by Naik, had been renewed in August this year.

His suspension was revoked last month by the Centre, following representation from senior IAS officers, and Dwivedi was placed on compulsory wait in the DoPT. It was alleged that due diligence was not carried out before facilitating renewal of the licence given under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to the NGO of Naik. However, his organisation has denied all these charges.