E-Paper
How UP fast-tracked files, govt orders before poll code came into force
About 220 government orders were issued in the last 48 hours that preceded announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule.
The Yogi Adityanath government stepped up the pace of governance manifold as it fast-tracked clearance of files of important departments to beat the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls.
About 220 government orders (GOs) were issued by its departments in the last 48 hours that preceded the ECI’s announcement of the poll programme.
This was nearly one-third of the 665 GOs issued from March 1 to 10, when the model code of conduct actually came into force. The state government issued 2900 GOs up to March 10, 2019 against 2442 government orders issued during the same period in 2018.
A close scrutiny of the GOs issued during the 48-hour period reveals that 148 of them were issued on Saturday, while 72 were issued on Sunday. Most of the GOs issued at the last minute on Sunday included the ones relating to construction, maintenance and widening of roads in different districts. Under normal circumstances, the GOs are issued only on working days. This is evident from the fact that only 38 GOs were issued on March 2 and 3, Saturday and Sunday before the polls were announced. Only one GO was issued on Sundays in February 2019.
When asked about fast-tracking of the GOs, former chief secretary Alok Ranjan said, “Yes, I understand many important decisions are taken at the last minute and government orders are issued to implement them. The number of GOs issued prior to the ECI’s model code of conduct is definitely high. It is advisable for the officers not to wait till the last minute to issue orders or else fingers will be pointed at such a fast pace of giving clearance to files.”
Besides stepping up the pace of work relating to financial sanctions for public roads and other work, the Yogi government also used the occasion to make 72 political appointments to please workers of the BJP and its allies. These included appointments to the posts of chairmen and members of state government’s corporations and boards.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also used the occasion to make populist announcements for various sections. These included a hike in honorarium given to village chowkidars and last-minute changes made in the names of a state university situated at Prayagraj and an agriculture university in Ayodhya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made nearly eight visits to the state in February-March to lay foundation stones or inaugurate projects, besides using one of the visits to take a holy dip in the Sangam at the Prayagraj Kumbh.
