Yogi cabinet approves new transfer policy, UP Day celebrations

Under the new transfer policy, 20 per cent officers and employees of group ‘A’ and ‘B’ who have completed three years in a district or seven years in a division will be transferred.

After carrying out a major reshuffle in the state administration and the police department, the Yogi Adityanath cabinet approved the new transfer policy for 2017-18 on Tuesday.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath going for a cabinet meeting at Lok Bhavan in Lucknow.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo)

The cabinet also decided to celebrate January 24 every year as Uttar Pradesh Day.

The cabinet meeting presided over by chief minister Yogi Adityanath also decided to stop the existing manual tender and procurement process and adopt e-tendering and e-procurement policies to bring in transparency in the system.

January 24 to be celebrated as UP Day

The state cabinet has decided to celebrate January 24 every year as Uttar Pradesh Day.
Briefing media persons about the cabinet decisions, UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said, “The Yogi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party believe that the identity of its own is a must for the pride of a state or a country. For this, the day of birth of any state and its celebration is important.”

“The state cabinet discussed the issue of celebrating Uttar Pradesh Day. UP was earlier known United Province. Uttar Pradesh was notified in the Union gazette on January 24, 1950. Therefore, the cabinet has decided to celebrate January 24 every year as UP Day,” he said.

Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik had taken up the matter with the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in 2014 but no decision could be taken on the issue.

“Under the new transfer policy, 20 per cent officers and employees of group ‘A’ and ‘B’ who have completed three years in a district or seven years in a division will be transferred. The transfers will be completed by June 30,” said UP urban development minister Suresh Khanna who, along with cabinet colleague Siddharth Nath Singh, briefed media persons about the cabinet decisions here.

“Heads of departments will be authorised to carry out transfer of group ‘B’ employees while the state government will approve the transfers of group ‘A’ officers. Differently-abled officials have been kept out of the purview of the transfer policy. The group ‘B’ employees who have two years to go for retirement will be allowed posting in their home district while those in group ‘A’ will be given the district of their choice close to their home district,” Khanna said.

The state cabinet also approved the GST Bill to be ratified in the forthcoming session of state legislature commencing on May 15.

The cabinet also decided to exempt stamp duty of about Rs 210 crore on the transfer of land for fertilizer factory in Gorakhpur. Singh said the Union government would make an investment of Rs 6,500 crore on the revival of the factory.

In another decision, the cabinet approved the District Mineral Foundation Trust Rules 2017 that was notified by the Union government on April 25, 2017.

Under its provisions, a part of the royalty received from mining of mineral and minor minerals will be invested on providing facilities, including drinking water, in the area where the mining is carried out.