Yogi retains top UP babus, no transfers
Yogi bid to depoliticise bureaucracy? Chief secretary, DGP retained
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has left his mark as a no-nonsense CM in the past 10 days, but has also kept the state bureaucracy on tenterhooks. The CM hasn’t sacked any official, nor started departmental action against anyone, focusing his entire attention on law and order, closure of illegal slaughterhouses and completing unfinished projects.
Transfers of top officials have been a regular feature of every change of government in UP, but Adityanath hasn’t even changed officials in the CM’s secretariat. The chief secretary and DGP are the ones appointed by the Akhilesh Yadav government.
A top official said if he continues like this, signalling he has no favourites, he would get the whole-hearted support of the state administration.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath may have made his mark as a nononsense chief minister in the past 10 days but he has kept the state bureaucracy on tenterhooks.
The chief minister has neither sacked any official nor has he initiated departmental action against anyone. Instead, he has focused his attention on the law and order situation, closure of unauthorised slaughter house and completing of unfinished projects.
The much-awaited administrative reshuffle has also not taken place. Transfers of bureaucrats in top position have been almost mandatory with the change of government in Uttar Pradesh but Adityanath Yogi obviously has better things in mind.
Mr Yogi has not even transferred officials in the CM’s secretariat and the chief secretary and DGP continue to be the ones appointed by the previous Akhilesh government.
It may be recalled that transfers of top bureaucrats is usually don within hours of the new government being sworn in. Ms Mayawati, in 2007, had transferred over 125 IAS and IPS officials within hours of assuming office while Akhilesh, in 2012, had completed the exercise within 24 hours.
Talking to this correspondent on condition of anonymity, a senior Cabinet minister in the Yogi government said, “The chief minister does not wish to send a message that he is being vindictive. He believes that this is the best way to de-politicise the bureaucracy and we are already seeing the results. Officials who were perceived to be close to the previous chief minister are now coming forward to disclose all that went wrong in the SP regime”.
The Cabinet minister said that Mr Yogi would only reshuffle the bureaucracy if he felt that a particular officer was not working properly.
The bureaucrats, on the other hand, remain apprehensive in this situation. “It is indeed surprising that the chief minister has not brought in officers of his choice. This implies that he had no favourites and if he continues with this policy, he will get the whole hearted support of the administration. We are fed up of being called SP’s men or BSP’s men — we want to be known as UP’s men for a change,” said a principal secretary rank officer.
Interestingly, the CM has also asked his ministers not to press for officers of their choice without any apparent reason.