UP govt sends senior IAS, IPS officers on field visits
LUCKNOW: A day after the agitating farmers’ unions gave a call for a nationwide protest on January 1, the Uttar Pradesh government sent senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to all 75 districts of the state to hold talks with farmers, resolve their grievances, review progress of various schemes launched for their welfare and development of rural areas.
Even while the minimum temperature dipped to 10 degrees Celsius or below at several places on Monday morning, senior officers were in the field in their allotted districts, holding talks with farmers as well as reviewing paddy and sugarcane procurement at the centres established by the state government. The officers also took stock of the condition of cow shelters across the state.
Chief minister’s principal secretary Sanjay Prasad said the state government sent IAS officers of the rank of additional chief secretary, principal secretary and secretary, as well as IPS officers of the rank of additional director general, inspector general and deputy inspector general as nodal officers to various districts to review the working of the paddy-sugarcane procurement centres, cow shelters and availability of water in canals.
The officers will return to the state capital on Tuesday night and submit their reports to chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The reports will be reviewed at a meeting to be chaired by the chief minister, he said.
Prasad said the state government had procured a record 467.31 lakh quintal of paddy from farmers. He also said the state government had paid Rs 1.12 lakh crore to sugarcane farmers and added all the sugar mills in the state were working.
Additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal inspected the paddy procurement centre in the Bahedi area of Bareilly district on Monday. The farmers lodged complaints about irregularities and a long wait at the procurement centre. At this, Sehgal directed the district magistrate to increase the number of procurement centres. At Gudhwara village, the residents complained about erratic power supply, waterlogging and delay in allotment of houses under government schemes. Here, Sehgal directed the chief development officer to redress the grievances of villagers. Additional chief secretary (agriculture) Devesh Chaturvedi inspected paddy procurement centres and cow shelters in Shahjahanpur district.
Additional chief secretary (secretariat administration) Hemant Rao was in Auraiya.
ACS Sanjay Bhoosreddy, principal secretary Dimple Verma and Kanpur divisional commissioner Rajshekhar also held talks with farmers and inspected paddy procurement centres.
Police officers gathered feedback about the law and order situation and directed the district officers to maintain law and order during the farmers’ agitation..