Dy CM Sharma administers ‘swachhta’ oath to govt officials in ‘RSS style’
LUCKNOW : Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma administered oath of swachhta (cleanliness) to bureaucrats and officials of the government’s secondary education department while launching the Sewa Saptah (service week) here on Saturday. Incidentally, he administered the oath with the right hand in horizontal position close to his chest, similar to the way followed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), raising many eyebrows.
A junior level official, who do not wish to be identified, said: “Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma could not come out of his RSS background when it came to administering the oath.”
When told about the ‘RSSstyle’ in his new way of administering oath that many had taken note of, Sharma said, “I could never imagine that people would relate it with RSS. It was the individual’s choice. There was no rider over the positioning of hand while taking the oath. Even in army, police and scouts people take pledge with the palm pressed close to their chest.”
A staffer of secondary education department, who did not want to be named, said, “We just followed what the bureaucrats and other top officials of the secondary education department did while standing on the dais. I know this was wrong. But I don’t want to go against my officers. If the chief secretary and principal secretary, secondary education, were taking pledge in RSS style, who are we to go against their wish. We don’t want to be singled out.” UPCC spokesperson Dwijendra Tripathi said, “BJP is brazenly engaged in doing saffronisation of education. The top bureaucrats are themselves to be blamed for taking pledge in the RSS way. It is against their service rules. This is highly condemnable.”
Kavita Krishnan, secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) and politburo member of CPI(ML) said: “It is an attempt to politicise bureaucracy and the event was essentially an extension of RSS ideology. The government should have spared the bureaucracy and, particularly, the education sector.”
Meanwhile, principal secretary, secondary education, Aradhana Shukla said she penned the content for the oath that was administered by the deputy CM . “Frankly speaking, I did not even notice how people had taken the oath, whether with their hand stretched or close to their chest,” she said.
“If I had taken oath putting my hand on my chest like Americans do, it does not make me an American. Likewise, if a particular organisation administers oath keeping their palm close to their chest, it does not become their exclusive right. I take this oath as a service to the nation,” she said .
“The ‘Sewa Saptah’ is being observed to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17,” said Sharma while addressing the gathering. He said during the ‘saptah’ -- September 14 to 20 -- people will be made aware about the importance of doing service.
As Sharma administered the oath, senior bureaucrats and other officials, who were on dais, followed his style while taking oath. Chief secretary RK Tewari, principal secretary, secondary education, Aradhana Shukla, Vinay Kumar Pandey, director secondary education, Ramesh Kumar, secretary, secondary and higher education, JS Dubey, joint secretary, secondary education, Rajesh Kumar and Uday Bhanu Tripathi, special secretaries and Shatrunjay Kumar Singh, joint secondary, were among those who followed Sharma’s style of while taking oath. Off the dais too, hundreds of government staffers also took oath with their right hand in horizontal position close to his chest. During the function, Sharma later put on an apron and painted a portion of the iron gate at the venue here.