LUCKNOW: Even as Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav calls for an overhaul in UP's bureaucratic machinery infested with inefficient officials, often juggling between multiple posts, there are instances, where posts continue to remain vacant for not one or two days but for months. And this could be best exemplified by the absence of commissioners in divisions like Faizabad, Moradabad and Azamgarh.
Sample this: Notwithstanding the sensitivity given the existence of disputed site in Ayodhya, Faizabad division does not have a full time divisional commissioner for more than two months. The seat has remained vacant since last divisional commissioner Madhusudan Raizada retired on November 30. Interestingly, Faizabad divisional commissioner also happens to be the key officer taking care of the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Similar, is the case with Azamgarh, where the seat of the divisional commissioner is vacant since December 31, after RM Singh retired. Akhilesh Yadav government appears to have also forgotten about Moradabad, which does not have a full time divisional commissioner since SK Verma was transferred on January 15.
This has not only led to a perceptible administrative crisis, but has also led to the one of the most peculiar situation, where a much junior officer is supervising his/her senior of the same cadre. For example, the charge of Faizabad divisional commissioner is with DM Ajay Shukla, a 2002 batch IAS officer. By default he has become the boss of Sultanpur DM, K Dhanlaxmi who is one year senior to Shukla.
Likewise is the case of Moradabad division, where Moradabad city DM Sanjay Kumar is having additional charge of the divisional commissioner. Kumar, a 2002 batch IAS officer, hence, presides over two year senior Amroha DM Ranjan Kumar and Vipin Dwivedi a senior PCS officer recently promoted as IAS. Similar situation prevails in Azamgarh, where Azamgarh DM Pranjal Yadav, a 2006 batch IAS officer, by virtue of being a commissioner in-charge enables him to oversee the functioning of three year senior Ballia DM, AV Rajamauli.
This is quite similar to Sonbhadra, which had no district magistrate for more than five months, ever since Akhilesh Yadav took over the reins of the state in March earlier this year. In fact, Akhilesh, within a fortnight after taking charge removed the then DM Vijay Vishwas Pant, but posted no successor.
More than one-and-half month later, on May 22, Suhas LY was posted as DM, only to be transferred four months later, on September 22. Since then, the district is without a full-fledged district magistrate, even though district's chief development officer, Ram Krishna Uttam, a PCS officer of 1991 batch, held the charge. It was only on December 30 when the state government posted Chandra Kant as a full time DM for the district.
But while the state government posted a DM, the district remained without a SP. This is the case when it happens to be a Naxal-affected district. Known for being a mineral rich land with abundant forest, Sonbhadra neither has a district mining officer nor a district forest officer. Similarly, there is no DM posted in Pratapgarh and Maharajganj.
The situation flies on the face of Akhilesh government which consistently warns the senior officers of dire consequences in case things do not work out and services are not rendered efficiently.
It was only last month when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav expressed his reservation on one officer holding more that two departments.
Interestingly, there still remain quite a few officers, who continue to hold multiple charges despite Mulayam's warning. For example, Sanjiv Mittal is not only principal secretary (energy), but also chairman of UP Power Corporation Limited. He is also the principal secretary (information) and even divisional commissioner Lucknow.
Then there is Praveer Kumar, who reports to two different ministers as principal secretary housing and principal secretary urban development. Likewise, Rajiv Aggarwal not only heads the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) as its vice-chairman, but is also taking care of Mandi Parishad as its director. Both these departments, interestingly, come within the direct purview of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
As far as police officials are concerned, Meerut range does not have an inspector general of police, while there is no deputy IG for Gonda range. Similarly, Baghpat does not have a superintendent of police.
What has made the situation worse is the recent comments from the CM and his party leaders that they are keeping a close watch on poor performers and strict action would be initiated against them if they fail to deliver.
"There is a sense of uncertainty, fear of being caught on the wrong foot and also that of inviting the ire of the political masters - all these issues together have prompted the bureaucrats to go for the safest option - to do the bare minimum that is mandatory," says a senior bureaucrat while talking to TOI. "When an officer doesn't do much work, the possibilities of anything going wrong are also reduced in a big way," the officer says, adding, "The compound effect of such an attitude is that the state is suffering almost at all fronts."
It is an open secret that once any officer is promoted but awaits transfer to the higher post, he tends to kill time at his old posting. "When as officer knows that he has been promoted and will have to leave the post which he is serving, he would naturally take much less interest in his work. He will do whatever is essential," says retired IPS and former Director General of Police of UP KL Gupta. "It is like you have packed your bag and baggage to leave a house and occupy another only to be told that the other house will be vacated only a few days later, then you don't unpack your baggage to get back into the routines of your life," explains an IPS officer, who is awaiting his posting after promotion.
"The bureaucracy under any regime works in the manner the government wants it to work. Bureaucracy is the real reflection of the government in every way and cannot be held responsible in isolation for the failure of the state," says another IAS posted as a secretary in the state capital. "It is not about the public statements that are made by the people, who matter in the government. I cannot believe that if the government wants a certain programme to be implemented and the officer sits back without abiding by the orders. Even if anyone dares to do that, he is shown the door. It is very childish of the politicians to accuse the bureaucrats of poor or no performance," he says.
Senior bureaucrats insist that if the political masters fail to plug the holes that are draining the government of the efforts that the political masters are putting in, the situation is only going to get worse. "It goes perfectly with the age old saying - a stitch in time saves nine.! |