Cracking the administrative whip, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday ordered  suspension of three officials of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited and transfer of a sub-divisional magistrate, three chief medical officers and an equal number of executive engineers of Power department for dereliction of duties.

He also warned all officials to implement the policies of the government or be ready to face the music.

The action was taken during a review meeting of Gorakhpur division in Gorakhpur and Kushinagar on Sunday. The Chief Minister ordered  the suspension of UPPCL. Executive Engineer AK Singh, SDO Pratish Vallabh and JE Arun Chaudhry.

The government spokesman said that the Chief Minister expressed annoyance at the working of the officers against whom action was taken.

The axe also fell on SDM Sadar at Maharajganj, Satyam Mishra, as he had failed to implement the government projects.

During the meeting, Chief Minister specifically reviewed the working of Kushinagar, Deoria and Maharajganj districts. He enquired about the progress in controlling encephalitis in these districts and was not satisfied with the answers that the chief medical officers gave.

He was told that patients were not being given proper treatment in district hospitals and the community and primary health centres (CHCs/ PHCs) in these districts did not have doctors and required medicines.

Showing his displeasure over the working of the senior doctors, the Chief Minister asked senior officials to take action against Kushinagar CMO Dr Hari Charan Singh, Deoria CMO Dr Dhirendra Kumar and Maharajganj CMO Dr KS Pandey.

He also ordered action against the deputy chief medical officers of these districts.

“The Chief Minister has also sought explanation from the officials for their poor performance,” the spokesman said.

Yogi also ordered transfer of two executive engineers of UP Power Corporation Limited posted in Padrauna for their failure to change transformers in time and attend to people’s complaints effectively. 

Executive engineer at Padrauna Hansraj Kaushal and executive engineer Tamkuhiraj have been transferred with immediate effect and senior officers have been asked to hold an enquiry against them.

During the review meeting in Gorakhpur, the Chief Minister ordered action against the executive engineer of Power department for delay in laying underground cables.

The first review meeting was held in Kushinagar and it continued for four hours. The Chief Minister enquired about law and order and pace of implementation of development schemes in the region.

The focus was also on health department. The region being encephalitis endemic, Yogi enquired about the progress in controlling the disease and availability of doctors and medicines in hospitals.

“This government is committed to the welfare of people. Officers who are not willing to work at ground zero are free to seek transfer else action will be taken against them,” the Chief Minister said.

“No starvation death should be reported from anywhere in the district. If this happens the district magistrate will be held responsible,” Yogi Adityanath said.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the School Chalo campaign and the progress in tree plantation drive.

He also enquired about progress in distribution of ration cards among Musahars and implementation of ban on use of polythene.

The spokesman said that under the government’s zero tolerance policy towards corruption, action was recently taken against 600 corrupt officials, out of which 201 were given forced retirement. He said more than 150 officials were still on the radar of the Yogi Adityanath government and most of them were IAS and IPS officers.