One of every three DMs found absent from office in Uttar Pradesh despite government order
Two months back, the CM had asked all DMs and SSPs to remain in office daily from 9 am to 11 am to attend to public complaints. He warned the officials he would periodically check their availability by calling on office landline phone numbers.
One out of every three district magistrates in Uttar Pradesh were not found in their office between 9 am and 11 am during a surprise check ordered by chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Two months back, the CM had asked all DMs and SSPs to remain in office daily from 9 am to 11 am to attend to public complaints. He warned the officials he would periodically check their availability by calling on office landline phone numbers.
However, 26 DMs out of 75 were not found in their office during the surprise check.
Interestingly, the calls were made from the chief secretary’s office and not the CM’s secretariat which used to be all powerful during the previous Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party regimes.
UP chief secretary Rajive Kumar, who randomly called up the DMs on their office landline numbers, described the officers’ absence as violation of government order and asked them to explain their conduct.
“Such calls would be made quite regularly now,” a senior official told HT.
The DMs of Azamgarh, Ballia, Mau, Kushinagar, Deoria, Maharajganj, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi, Jalaun, Fatehpur, Gonda, Barabanki, Badaun, Bijnore, Bulandshahr, Agra, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Rae Bareli, Meerut and Kasganj were found to be missing from their office.
“The DMs would be required to explain why they were not in office during the time set for them to attend to public complaints,” a senior official said. In April, Yogi had said only those bureaucrats willing to work for 18-20 hours daily should work with him.
On July 6, the CM had asked the DMs and the SSPs to dispose of all public complaints, received till June 30, by July 31. In a video conference with officials, the CM indicated he would hold regular review meetings to check the status of disposal of public complaints.
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“I am not asking for the moon. I am only asking you to ensure such complaints like ones relating to land grabbing, non-registration of FIRs are attended to on the spot. If people from far-off places are travelling to Lucknow to get such complaints redressed, it reflects poorly on the system,” the CM had said.
Yogi has said that bureaucrats would be accountable for timely disposal of public grievances. While the DMs and SSPs have been tasked with holding regular review meetings at district level, commissioners and inspector general of police would review disposal of complaints at divisional level. Monthly state-level review meetings will be held at the level of chief secretary and DGP. After the disposal, the officials at each level would also be required to submit a completion certificate to their superiors.