Lucknow: More district inspections and increased talk on transfers of deputy chief ministers, weekly coordination meetings with CMs as well as more responsibilities for ministers – these are some of the changes seen in Yogi Adityanath’s administrative style – Uttar Pradesh in the last one month led the BJP government in
Sources in the BJP say that the measure is an attempt by the government to address the perceived dissatisfaction among the ministers.
This step was taken after the state’s Jal Shakti Minister Dinesh Khatik Resignation over alleged corruption in his department in July, although he decision made To stop after meeting with Adityanath. Khatik’s resignation letter, sent to Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah, had provoked the opposition to attack the Yogi government. on the charges done by him.
Last month, a tweet by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also created panic. “The organization is bigger than the government,” he posted on his Twitter account.
Information on balance and balance in UP government:
– First rebel against the Public Works Department
– again injurious to health
– Now the opponent in the waterPeople are asking, from the youth situation of UP…
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) 20 July 2022
these developments cause for speculation About a possible power struggle within the BJP, prompting Adityanath and the state unit to move into damage control mode.
Senior party leaders, however, tried to downplay the significance of the recent “changes” in governance in UP.
Claiming that coordination meetings had taken place earlier too, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told ThePrint that something had happened. Changes in the functioning of the Group of Ministers, and they have been tasked to tour the area and share reports with the CM.
Tripathi said: “This is for sure that if someone has become a minister, it does not mean that he will not be in touch with the ground (in contact with the people).”
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, on the other hand, attributed some of the new steps – such as the weekly coordination meeting – to the Yogi government’s policy of ‘zero tolerance’ to crime and corruption, which he claimed would be strengthened at every level.
In July, Pathak wrote a letter to the then Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad on alleged irregularities in the implementation of the transfer policy. questions raised prasad against adityanath government was transferred In a major bureaucratic reshuffle earlier this month.
Asked whether the latest administrative changes reflect the increasing influence of the deputy CM in governance, Pathak told ThePrint: “Nothing like that. We are all working together in the government… We are working for the public interest. We have regular (coordination) meetings and discussions.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) meanwhile said that coordination meetings are the party’s jurisdiction and not the government’s.
Yogi 2.0’s initial stance changes
Soon after the Yogi government returned to power in UP with a thumping victory in this year’s assembly elections, the CM had released a list of do’s and don’ts for his ministers.
These included instructions appointment of private employees, a daily work schedule Ministers, giving presentations of their respective departments at cabinet meetings instead of asking officials to do so, and staying in government guest houses instead of hotels during official visits to districts.
The ministers were also assigned the task of visiting the divisions – a cluster of three to six districts – two days a week to oversee development works and proper implementation of government schemes. State ministers were asked to accompany their cabinet colleagues on these field visits.
With 18 divisions and 18 cabinet ministers in the state, each cabinet colleague of Adityanath got the charge of one division.
In May, a change was made to the assignment of divisions.
But Khatik’s resignation letter , In which he also claimed that “he was not given any responsibility in the department” – and the letter to Pathak’s Prasad on alleged irregularities in transfers, questions raised against adityanath government
Pathak holds the medical and health departments in the UP government, and his letter sparked speculation that the deputy CM was not informed about the transfers.
As the Adityanath government went into damage control mode, one of the Change The scene was that Swatantra Dev Singh, the cabinet minister in charge of the Jal Shakti department, started sharing departmental work with the ministers of state Khatik and Ramkesh Nishad.
“Departmental functions are usually concentrated in the hands of a cabinet minister. However, with the recent developments, the workload in the Jal Shakti department has been divided to begin with,” said a UP government official on condition of anonymity.
Khatik and Nishad were asked to handle works related to flood control, drainage inspection, Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) and dam safety in different divisions. Khatik was asked to handle the Western UP divisions including Saharanpur, Meerut, Moradabad and Aligarh, while Nishad was given charge in the Central and Eastern UP divisions such as Lucknow, Prayagraj, Azamgarh, Devipatan and Basti.
Speaking to ThePrint, Nishad said that he was looking after the Group C work of the civil mechanical organization of Jal Shakti Department.
“With Group C employees working, we (both MoS) can hold meetings and conduct inspections. The government is working in full coordination.”
Meanwhile, both the deputy CMs of the state – Maurya and Pathak – were given last month responsibility To oversee the work (development and implementation of government schemes) in each of the 25 districts, equal to the number placed under him by the Chief Minister.
Inspection by the CM and Deputy CM will be in addition to the charge of divisions given to the cabinet ministers.
“There is no point in giving one division to the deputy CM. If the Deputy CM is given the same thing that is given to every cabinet minister, then what is the difference between the Deputy CM and other ministers? This was conveyed to higher officials and a clear message was sent that deputy CMs should be given work according to their stature,” a senior BJP leader from UP told ThePrint, on condition of anonymity.
weekly coordination meetings
As Maurya’s “organization bigger than the government” tweet attracted attention last month, Bhupendra Choudhary, who was appointed BJP state president on August 25, Insisted That the government is working according to the agenda of the party.
Party insiders told ThePrint that the weekly coordination meeting between the CM and his deputy began last month and is held every Monday at the CM’s residence.
“From the last week of August, there is a meeting between the CM and the Deputy CM every Monday at the CM residence. This is a coordination meeting between the CMO and the deputy CM to ensure better coordination,” said the senior BJP leader quoted above.
Last week, Amit Mohan Prasad, who was facing investigation for alleged irregularities in the medical health department, was tension free The charge of that department and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department was given.
His transfer is being seen as a result of Pathak’s letter against him.
“Ever since the deputy CM’s letter went viral, his displeasure with Prasad continuing as the ACS of the department was evident. His shift shows that the deputy CM is being heard now,” another UP government official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
(Edited by Polomi Banerjee)
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