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Wanted: A Pied Piper to take rats away from UP secretariat buildings
Disrupted phone connections, disconnected computer wiring or damage to paper files or other material have become a regular occurrence as rats have a field day.
The secretariat buildings housing the top offices and seats of governance in Uttar Pradesh are in urgent need of a Pied Piper to take rats out of the premises.
Disrupted phone connections, disconnected computer wiring or damage to paper files or other material have become a regular occurrence as rats have a field day.
There appears to be no let-up in the situation though the authorities insist a rodent control programme is being implemented in all the five secretariat complexes with 10 office buildings and rat-traps are being placed wherever needed.
The most infested appears to be the Lok Bhavan that now houses the main office of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister’s secretariat and chief secretary’s offices, besides the offices of senior officers heading important departments like home and industry.
“Once the staff leave the offices, the rats may be seen playing a game of hide and seek, chasing each other, coming out in the open from the false ceiling or from behind the wooden panels,” said a senior government functionary.
“Yes, Lok Bhavan is worse affected. I have already drawn the attention of the authorities in this regard,” said Uttar Pradesh Secretariat Employees Association president Arjun Dev Bharati.
Other affected secretariat buildings include the Vidhan Bhavan housing the bicameral state legislature with Sachiv Bhavan, Bahukhandi Bhavan, Naveen Bhavan and Adhikari Bhavan buildings (situated on both sides of the main Vidhan Bhavan ), Bapu Bhavan, Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhavan, Janpath and Yojana Bhavan.
The secretariat administration department (SAD), which runs the rodent control programme, is also facing the problem.
The office telephone of a top officer of the secretariat administration department remained out of order with rats disconnecting the wires on Friday.
“We have included rodent control in the scope of work for four cleaning agencies deployed through the GeM portal to keep the Lok Bhavan, Vidhan Bhavan, Bapu Bhavan and Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhavan clean. The secretariat’s cleaning staff takes care of the cleaning work at Yojana Bhavan. Rat catcher traps with glue are kept in every office from where the movement of rats is reported. We have 2030 office rooms and 40 conference rooms in the secretariat buildings and nearly 5000 employees work therein. As leftover food items or waste attracts rats, we have asked the cleaning staff to clear all the 5000 dustbins when the offices are closed in the evening. This is showing good results. But the staff also need to ensure that no food waste is left on the tables or on the ground,” said an officer of the secretariat administration department on condition of anonymity.
As the steps taken so far to control the menace prove ineffective, principal secretary, secretariat administration department, Amit Ghosh convened a meeting of SAD officers responsible for running the rodent control programme on Friday and asked them to step up their efforts.
“Yes, we are stepping up efforts to control the rodent menace. We have proposed measures to put an effective check and these steps may include having designated areas for food consumption. Paucity of space in the secretariat may delay implementation of these proposals,” said another officer.
Senior officers claim that the Swachh Sachivalya Abhiyan (clean secretariat campaign) launched at the initiative of former chief secretary DS Mishra a few years ago helped in keeping the secretariat clean. Others, however, contest such claims. Bharati said he is getting complaints about lack of efforts to keep the parking spaces clean.
“Parking lots are turning out to be dumping grounds. Besides the problem of rats, cockroaches may be seen in offices in the secretariat. There is the growing problem of stray dogs, too, in the secretariat buildings,” said Bharati. He said monkeys are also causing problems at Bapu Bhavan and damaging seat covers of vehicles parked there.
Bharati, in a letter dated June 4, 2025, had requested principal secretary, SAD, to take action to control the cockroach menace in the offices of officers and other employees at Lok Bhavan.
Over a decade ago, a palm civet caused a scare in the Lal Bahadur Shastri secretariat building that housed the chief minister’s office and main CM secretariat in 2014. It came to light when the officers of the chief minister’s secretariat noticed a stink and asked the officers of the public works department and the forest department to deal with the menace.
