Jaipur, Jan 23 (PTI) An IAS officer and two RAS officers were on Tuesday removed and placed under Awaiting Posting Orders (APO) status after they were found absent during Rajasthan Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant's surprise visit to the Jaipur Development Authority office, according to sources.

Pant arrived at the JDA office at 10 am on Tuesday and conducted an inspection of the office.

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JDA Secretary Nalini Kathotia (Indian Administrative Service officer), Additional Commissioner Anandi Lal Vaishnav and Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar (Rajasthan Administrative Service officers) were absent from duty during the visit, the sources said.

Pant then enquired about pendency of files, saw other arrangements in the office and expressed his displeasure over laxity in work, they said.

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He instructed JDA Commissioner Manju Rajpal to take action against officers showing carelessness in work and to improve the condition of the office, including cleanliness, they added.

Later in the day, the Department of Personnel issued orders putting Kathotia, Vaishnav and Kumar under APO status till further orders. The officers were asked to report to the department.

The order, however, did not mention a reason for the action.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)