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HomeIndiaHow 'pride of Prayagraj' became latest flashpoint in tussle between UP
netas...
India


HOW ‘PRIDE OF PRAYAGRAJ’ BECAME LATEST FLASHPOINT IN TUSSLE BETWEEN UP NETAS &
OFFICIALS





WHILE THERE'S A FEELING AMONG PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES THAT CIVIL SERVANTS IN UP
ARE 'UNRESTRAINED', OFFICIALS SAY MOST DECISIONS ARE MADE WITH CMO'S APPROVAL.

Shikha Salaria
10 January, 2023 08:23 am IST
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UP CM Yogi Adityanath with deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak |
Representational image | ANI file photo
Text Size: A- A+

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s elected politicians are lashing out at civil servants,
publicly. A deputy chief minister promising a probe into “officials issuing
erroneous orders” — over a proposal to move a directorate to Lucknow from
Prayagraj — is just the latest instance. From two MPs castigating officials to
another calling them “idle”, these conflicts are spilling more and more into the
open. 



While there’s a sense among politicians that civil servants in UP are
“unrestrained”, retired and serving officials say most decisions are taken with
the approval of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and unlike public
representatives, they cannot share their side of the story.

However, several retired civil servants ThePrint spoke to agreed that in Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government, “power is concentrated in the hands of a
few” due to which public representatives “choose to vent their angst elsewhere
in a centralised system.” 

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Also Read: What the rare second extension to UP chief secretary signifies about
Yogi-Modi relations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




‘PRIDE OF PRAYAGRAJ SLOWLY FADING’

The latest flashpoint between public representatives and officials in UP was
prompted by an order issued last month by IAS officer Akhilesh Kumar Mishra,
special secretary, higher education department. In the order dated 30 December,
Mishra sought a proposal from officials for the relocation of the Directorate of
Higher Education to Lucknow from Prayagraj.

“Directions have been received from higher levels to relocate the higher
education directorate from Prayagraj to Lucknow for the benefit of government
work,” read the order, a copy of which is with ThePrint. “In this relation, I
have been directed to say that a clear and thoughtful proposal be immediately
sent to the government.”

The order triggered protests from the union of directorate employees — the
Shiksha Nideshalaya Ministerial Karamchari Sangh — which sought the help of
sitting MPs and MLAs, besides former public representatives from the Prayagraj
region who wrote to Adityanath, asking the government not to go ahead with the
relocation “at any cost”.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vinod Sonkar, Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from
Pratappur Vijma Yadav, SP MLC Dr Man Singh Yadav, Apna Dal (S) MLA Vachaspati,
and BJP MLA Praveen Patel were among those who wrote to the chief minister in
this regard.



“This directorate will not be shifted to Lucknow,” deputy CM Keshav Prasad
Maurya, who is an MLC from Prayagraj, declared in a tweet on 6 January, despite
the fact that the higher education department is headed by fellow cabinet
minister Yogendra Upadhyaya. Maurya added, “It has always been our effort and
will always remain so, that a new office should come (to Prayagraj) and the
existing office should not go (from here). A probe will take place against those
officials issuing erroneous orders.”

Importantly, Maurya’s tweet had an attachment — a fresh order issued by Mishra,
saying that the previous order had “led to doubts that a decision had been made
to shift the entire directorate to Lucknow”. It clarified that the proposal was
only “under consideration”.

A Maurya aide said on condition of anonymity that the fresh order was issued
after the deputy CM raised the issue with higher education minister Upadhyaya,
and after concerns about the move were conveyed to the CM.

Another UP BJP leader who didn’t wish to be named said, “After losing the
assembly election from Sirathu, Maurya lost some of his sheen, and now keeps on
making his presence felt. The issue of the higher education directorate is
especially significant because Maurya comes from Sirathu which lies in
Kaushambi, neighbouring Prayagraj. He is not the minister of the higher
education department but has still declared that a probe will be initiated
against officials who have issued the erroneous order as damage control.”

ThePrint reached Upadhyaya via telephone but had not received a response at the
time of publication. This report will be updated when a response is received.

Meanwhile, Jitendra Singh, president of the union of directorate employees,
alleged that the controversial order was the brainchild of officials “who have
built houses in Lucknow and want to run the office from their homes”.

“Earlier, the police HQ was shifted from Prayagraj to Lucknow (in 2019).
Attempts were made to shift the basic education directorate in 2009 and now,
they’re trying to shift the higher education directorate,” he said.

Sonkar, the BJP MP from Kaushambi who wrote to Adityanath on 5 January, told
ThePrint that the government would “definitely” probe Mishra’s earlier order.

“I’ve written a letter because the directorate is the pride of Prayagraj which
has a proud history, whether from a religious or administrative point of view.
The way offices are being shifted from here, somewhere, the pride of Prayagraj
is slowly fading. As a public representative, I tried to ensure it isn’t
relocated,” he added.


‘DISHONEST’ SDM, ‘IDLE’ OFFICIALS

The confrontation over the relocation of the higher education directorate came
on the heels of a public exchange between Akbarpur MP Devendra Singh alias
‘Bhole’ and a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Kanpur Dehat.

This was in relation to the death of a trader, Balwant Singh, allegedly in
police custody on the intervening night of 12-13 December. The incident resulted
in the suspension of 11 police personnel including a station house officer
(SHO), eight of whom were subsequently arrested.

Bhole, after meeting the trader’s family, lashed out at Mahendra Singh, the
now-transferred SDM of Maitha. The MP said the parcel of land promised to the
family as compensation was yet to be identified.

“You (SDM) don’t do any work without taking money, keep sitting there for 24
hours. The entire system is spoiled. This beimaan (dishonest person) is standing
there…wants money for everything. This is why all this is happening,” Bhole told
the official in the presence of cabinet minister Rakesh Sachan and Kanpur Dehat
district magistrate (DM) Neha Jain.

ThePrint reached Mahendra Singh, who is now SDM of Akbarpur, but his number
remained unreachable. This report will be updated when a response is received.

Before this, Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of the BJP had in October
criticised the Adityanath-led government over allegedly shoddy preparations for
floods that wreaked havoc in at least 18 UP districts. “Public representatives
are silent. Speaking out is not allowed. If you speak, you will be termed a
rebel,” Singh had told reporters while reviewing the status of relief operations
for his flood-hit constituents.

Singh’s constituency covers large parts of Gonda and Balrampur districts —
located in the low-lying flood-prone Terai region — that were ravaged by the
floods. Following the Kaiserganj MP’s claim that district officials did not
review arrangements for the floods, the Gonda DM issued a statement about the
work done and meetings held in this regard.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also Read: ‘Guilty’ of poll code violations, UP’s Sanjay Gangwar is 2nd minister
in Yogi 2.0 to face conviction

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


‘VIOLATION OF COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF CABINET’

Retired officials ThePrint spoke to cited the centralisation of power in the UP
government as a possible factor behind the politicians’ moves.

According to E.A.S. Sarma, former secretary to the Government of India, “There
can be three reasons. Firstly, the public representatives may be miffed when the
bureaucrats are not listening to their demands, which may not be genuine.
Secondly, when the chief minister becomes powerful, his junior colleagues start
feeling left out when they feel that the principle of collective responsibility
is being violated,” he said.

Sarma further argued that when the chief minister becomes powerful, “cabinet
colleagues can’t question him directly and instead, vent their angst on the
bureaucrats”.

“The CM is only a senior cabinet colleague and in a democracy, the principle of
collective responsibility of the cabinet should be followed. However, when this
does not happen, junior ministers and public representatives choose to express
their feelings publicly because they have to face their constituents and have to
bear repercussions in elections.”

A retired bureaucrat who served in the UP government for 40 years said on
condition of anonymity that power was indeed “centralised” in the current
administration, terming it a model that has its own advantages and pitfalls.

“Bureaucrats are bound by the code of conduct and hence, cannot speak publicly
against the government, unlike public representatives. Most decisions in the
state are taken with the approval of the CM and the minister concerned. At
times, public representatives make undue demands from bureaucrats which an
honest official is unable to cater to. Every instance has to be viewed on a
case-to-case basis. It is true that the situation at present is about
centralised control,” he admitted



(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also Read: Ayush admissions ‘scam’ in UP sees officials suspended, action likely
against hundreds of students

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 


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