CM Yogi Adityanath directs Noida, Greater Noida officials to declare assets, income

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed top officials of the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities to provide details of their movable and immovable assets by April 7.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed top officials of the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities to provide details of their movable and immovable assets by April 7.

The CEO has directed the staff of the two authorities to submit the details before the deadline. (Sunil Ghosh/HT File)

Soon after assuming office on March 19, the chief minister directed his ministers to provide details of their income, moveable and immovable assets within 15 days. He stated that rooting out corruption in government offices is the main agenda of his government.

On March 24, the chief secretary, Rahul Bhatnagar, had sent an official letter in this regard to top officials, including the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, the senior superintendent of police and heads of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities.

“We have received a letter from the state government. I am sending the required details of income and, moveable and immovable assets in a prescribed format. The government wants asset details of all top officials by April 7,” Deepak Agarwal, the chief executive officer of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities, said.

Agarwal said that he will collect the necessary details of staff members of the two authorities to ensure accountability and transparency. He has directed the staff of the two authorities to submit the details before the deadline.

The authorities have already sent the details pertaining to permanent employees and contractual ones working with them. Noida has 1,583 permanent employees and 4,365 contractual workers; Greater Noida has around 300 permanent and 250 contractual workers. The Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority has only two permanent employees and 80 contractual employees.

Sources said that Agarwal’s direction to the authority staff triggered a sense of fear, particularly among the engineers. “A large number of engineers, including senior and junior engineers, are worried by the direction of the CEO to file details of their movable and immovable assets,” an engineer of the Noida authority said.

However, residents said that collecting these details will not make a difference in checking corruption.

“Corrupt government employees, including IAS or PCS officers or engineers, accumulate wealth in the name of their relatives, friends and other persons close to them. The government should seek details of the assets of these officials’ relatives if they really want to fight corruption,” SK Nagrath, a retired army official, said.