Reforming as well as owning up to its own short-comings, the Yogi Adityanath regime is giving ample proof of its sincerity to serve and bring about change
The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, talked about a “tryst with destiny” when he addressed the nation for the first time from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 1947. Seventy years down the line, Yogi Adityanath face the same ‘tryst’ when ‘destiny’ made him Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19. On that day, he made a commitment to take Uttar Pradesh on the path of progress and started working earnestly to ‘redeem the pledge’ he had made to the people that he would end goondaraj from and make the administration accountable by cutting the proverbial red tape that comes with the bureaucracy.
The job was not at all easy. Uttar Pradesh was in the throes of mis-governance when Adityanath took charge. The law and order situation was bad. Murder, kidnapping, rape and loot were the order of the day. The Samajwadi Party workers had been on a land-grabbing spree. A slogan — Jo zameen sarkari hai, woh zameen hamari hai (every Government land is ours) had started taking the rounds. Police officials were working at the behest of Samajwadi Party leaders The administration had different laws for Samajwadi Party workers and the common man on the streets. Ministers were dubious; the court had to intervene to ask police to lodge a case against Ministers such as Gayatri Prajapati. Another Minister, Mohammad Azam Khan, the Muslim mascot of the party, was running the Government like his personal fiefdom.
In this background, Adityanath took up the cudgels to restore law and order. The beginning was slow but steady. The BJP Government completed 100 days in office on June 26 — this is such a small time to judge any regime’s performance. But it is enough time to evaluate a Government’s intention and its intensity to bring about change in the system. The Government has slowly and steadily started making its mark. Adityanath, who works for 14 to 16 hours a day, has set a benchmark for his Ministers and the officers. The review meetings and the presentation of the projects are being held after seven in the evening and the Ministers are made to sit till 11 at night. Officers claim that they have not seen any Chief Minister working so hard himself, as well as making others do the same with such unfailing consistency.
The hard work has started bearing fruits. The cobweb of indecisiveness has given way to a sunlight of hope. In the last three months, the Adityanath Government has taken many decisions which could be game-changers. The Bhagvad Gita for Adityanath’s administration is BJP’s sankalp patra, which it had released during the election campaign. The biggest promise of the BJP leadership was to waive off crop loans of farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised, the new BJP Government would waive off farmers’ loans in the first meeting of the State Cabinet; Yogi Adityanath’s Government did exactly that. On April 2, it held its first Cabinet meeting, in which it decided the waiver of crop loans up to one lakh rupees till March 2017.
This decision will help around 86 lakh farmers and cost the State exchequer over Rs 36,000 crore. This is a huge amount considering that fact that the Uttar Pradesh Government needs another Rs 34,000 crore for payment of salaries to Government employees, as per the recommendations by the Seventh Pay Commission. When the Opposition is going hammer and tongs against the Government, seeking a blueprint of farmers’ crop waiver scheme, the Chief Minister confidently rides through the criticism saying he has the plan ready. The Government says that once the Budget for the 2017-18 fiscal is passed, the financial problems of the farmers will evaporate. Once the report started pouring in about bank managers sending notices to farmers, Chief Minister Adityanath issued directives asking banks not to issue any notice till the Budget was passed. The order worked and the banks withdrew their notices.
In these 100 days, he has set a new definition of development. He has provided relief to the potato and wheat producers. This is the first time in the last 10 years that Uttar Pradesh has purchased over 45 lakh metric tonnes of wheat. During last year, the Akhilesh Yadav Government had purchased just seven lakh tonnes of wheat. For the first time, a minimum support price for potato was announced. This announcement was music to the ears of potato growers, as Uttar Pradesh is the country’s largest potato grower. Over Rs 20,000 crore as cane dues of the farmers was cleared in last three months,; besides, the Government has decided to give free land for setting up of 20 agriculture science centres in Uttar Pradesh. These centres will help farmers to go for diversification and help them to know the heath of the soil.
Few decisions, like setting up of an anti-land mafia task force has set the tone and tenor of ‘cleaning’ the administration. An E-tendering system has been introduced to bring transparency in imparting tenders. The Chief Minister has made it mandatory that books and dresses should be distributed among students before the start of an academic session. The Government’s decision to introduce the National Council of Educational Research and Training course in the Basic and Secondary Education department could prove a defining moment for the education system of the State. The pass percentages of Class X and XII have dropped this year, indicating that the Government was able to rein in the education mafia. There was a mass transfer of Basic Shiksha Adhikari and those who were found corrupt were suspended.
In the health sector, the Government has made sincere efforts to take health services to the door-steps of the people. A massive immunisation campaign was launched to vaccinate over 88 lakh children between one and 15 years of age against encephalitis. Because the State is facing an acute shortage of over 7,000 doctors, the Government has decided to appoint 1,000 doctors on an ad hoc basis.
Other decisions, like suspending Regional Transport Officers for their failure to check overloading, sent the message loud and clear that this Government meant business. Assistant Regional Transport Officer of Chandauli, RS Yadav, was suspended and arrested after he was found guilty of amassing huge wealth. Gayatri Prajapati, one of the most powerful Ministers in the Akhilesh Yadav Government, was sent to jail for the alleged molestation of a minor girl. The Minister used to call the shots in the last Government and had allegedly amassed large properties. His rise from a person with a Below Poverty line card-holder to a multi-millionaire in last five years speaks volumes about the sway he held in the last Government.
The major area of concern for the Adityanath regime seems to be maintaining law and order. In the last three months, several incidents of murders, kidnapping, and loot were reported. The police is finding itself on the receiving end. The sincerity of the Government is reflected in its admission that it was able to repair only 63 per cent of the roads, while it had promised to make all roads pot-hole free by June 15.
This sincerity proves that the Government does not believe in brushing its failure under the carpet. It fails to achieve a target and it accepts the failure. This also proves that promises the Government has made are not politically-driven. They have been committed with good intention. The Yogi Adityanath Government needs some time to prove its mettle.
(The writer is Chief of Bureau, The Pioneer, lucknow edition)