Madhya Pradesh: NHAI suspends four engineers for removing Madhavrao Scindia statue due to road widening

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has suspended two of its officials and issued notices to others in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district over the removal of the statue of former Union minister Madhavrao Scindia in an “offensive manner”, officials said Saturday.

A video also appeared on social media showing the statue being moved using an earth-mover with a noose around the structure’s neck.

According to officials, the Katni bypass of National Highway-30 will be widened into a four-lane highway. During the construction of the stretch, the statue of Madhavrao Scindia, which was already installed at Chaka bypass, would be shifted by the administration after another place was identified for it. However, the construction agency removed the statue in an incriminating manner on Saturday using an earth-moving machine.

Madhavrao Scindia was the father of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress and joined the ruling BJP in 2020.

Construction department senior engineer Manoj Verma, National Highway Authority of India engineer Rajesh Kumar Nema, engineer Ashish Singh Parihar and assistant bridge engineer Deepak Soni were found guilty and suspended over the incident.

The action was taken after the matter was brought to the attention of BJP MP VD Sharma, who expressed strong displeasure over the removal of the statue, saying it was an insult to the former political leader.

“This kind of insensitivity towards the statue of a great man who contributed to nation building and well-being of society is unacceptable,” VD Sharma said. He directed the collector and NHAI officials to shift the statue to another place with honour.

Following the MP’s directions, the NHAI swung into action and suspended the engineers with immediate effect. The statue has been moved to a nearby location for the time being.

“In this case, the responsible officials of the authority have also been directed to file a response within three days by issuing notice for negligence at work,” NHAI said.

(with inputs from PTI)