The bureaucracy in Uttar Pradesh is at loggerheads with ministers. This is no longer a secret that in a majority of the departments, the ministers are not on the same page with the officials of their respective departments, leading to rifts and public spat at times.
The issue came to the fore when Minister of State for Jal Shakti Dinesh Khatik alleged that he was neglected in the departmental meetings. He went a step ahead and sent his resignation to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, raising the political temperature from Lucknow to Delhi. He even added the Dalit angle to his resignation letter, forcing the BJP to go on the backfoot.
Khatik accused his department’s principal secretaries Anil Garg and Anurag Srivastava of not listening to his views. He mentioned this in his letter how a principal secretary disconnected the call when he was raising a departmental issue.
Not only Khatik, even the powerful Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak also got the taste of bureaucratic power when he started conducting raids in hospitals and godowns of the Health department. During his raids, he crossed swords with Additional Chief Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad, who has been in the department for more than four years and is said to be very influential. This can be gauged from the fact that despite complaints, no action was taken against Prasad.
Pathak also questioned the transfers being carried out in the department and thereafter, a probe was ordered by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. However, no action has been taken against Prasad.
The same is the case with PWD Minister Jitin Prasada and his influential Principal Secretary Narendra Bhushan. Despite the department being rocked by an alleged transfer scam, the bureaucrat has survived while five other officers have been suspended and the OSD of the minister has been transferred.
Then there is Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi who has not been able to keep pace with Principal Secretary Aradhana Shukla. The bureaucratic circles are agog with stories how Shukla has made the ministers dance to her tune. Therefore, there is no exception as the present minister is now trying to make the bureaucrat tow her line.
The same is the case with Rural Development and Panchayati Raj departments where Agriculture Production Commissioner Manoj Kumar Singh is holding the fort and passing orders, ignoring the ministers concerned.
“Despite numerous complaints to the chief minister, the ministers are feeling helpless,” a junior minister of the department said.
He added some of the bureaucrats have been in the same department for many years and earned the trust of the chief minister because of their work. “The CM has faith in them and, therefore, they do not respect the ministers because they know they have access to Yogi Adityanath,” he said.
This is probably the reason why Excise Minister Nitin Agarwal publicly praised Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy, who has also been in the department for the last four years. Bhoosreddy is also in the good books of the chief minister because of his stellar role in releasing cane dues. Therefore, the minister has wisely extended an olive branch to the officer.