In a late Friday night move, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet decided to further beef up the security protocol of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
For the last few days, the chief minister has been receiving constant threats to eliminate him and against the backdrop of the development, the chief minister’s security will be supersized.
Under the new plan, the chief minister’s fleet will be more secure during road travel and no one will be able to distinguish it. From now on, Yogi Adityanath will be provided protection on the lines of the security protocol of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
For this, the UP cabinet passed the proposal by circulation on Friday. However, no official announcement was made in this regard while an official communiqué on cabinet decision was released on Saturday evening.
As per government sources, the structure of the chief minister’s security fleet has been fixed as per the instructions of the government approved Green Book (revised version, 2017) for the protection of the chief minister.
Sources said that now the position of additional vehicle running in the chief minister’s convoy will be changed. The additional vehicle is kept as a reserve for emergencies and operates only between fleet vehicles.
At present, the position of the additional vehicle is changed only in vehicles running for the protection of the prime minister. This change will be recorded in the Chief Minister’s Green Book of Safety.
Earlier in 2017, the Green Book was reviewed for Yogi’s security.
Sources said that the security officials studied PM Modi’s Blue Book of Security after which they recommended the change.
In view of the terror threat to the chief minister, his security has been reviewed from time to time. Earlier, a decision was taken to make the glass panes of the chief minister’s office at Lok Bhawan bullet proof. This plan was prepared on the suggestion of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Similarly, security arrangements have also been strengthened at his residence at Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur and CCTV cameras have been installed. Besides, barriers have also been increased.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet also approved a proposal for a light rail transit system to ease traffic in Gorakhpur city and approved a detailed project report for the project.
Also, a proposal for demolishing some old buildings in Gorakhpur collectorate for construction of new ones also got the cabinet’s nod.
It was also decided to run government polytechnics and industrial training institutes (ITIs) on the public-private partnership model.
The government also sanctioned guarantees to facilitate cash credit limit of UP Cooperative Bank and District Cooperative Bank for 2020-21 cane crushing season of cooperative sugar mills. The government raises this limit every year.
In another decision, the government, under its Ease of Doing Business policy, empowered deputy excise commissioners to decide on liquor shops, instead of the present arrangement where only excise commissioner and the government are empowered for it.
For increasing the production capacity of liquor, a committee under additional chief secretary (excise) has also been formed.