Uttar Pradesh: Yogi’s SIT on TV sting leaves ministers out

Simmering anger among people of Uttar Pradesh is finding expression in different ways. While even government employees seem to have overcome their fear and started saying openly that the government of Yogi Adityanath is ‘useless’ (Yeh Sarkar nikammi hai), the chief minister is struggling to maintain the perception that he is tough on corruption.

But the CM’s decisions are proving to be counterproductive. When a TV news channel aired a sting operation in which three Personal Assistants of three ministers were seen demanding bribes to ‘ get work done’, the CM reacted by suspending the three Assistants and ordering a SIT probe against them.

But even as people wait for the SIT to submit its report, people have begun questioning why even token action has not been initiated against the ministers concerned. “ It is no secret that Personal Assistants cannot get work done on their own unless the ministers allow them to do so,” quipped a serving bureaucrat who felt that if the CM were really serious, he would have asked the SIT to interrogate the ministers as well.

The three ministers embroiled in the controversy are Om Prakash Rajbhar (Backward Classes Welfare), Archana Pandey (Mining) and Sandeep Singh (Basic Education). The last named is the grandson of Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.

The sting aired on ABP News involved the following :

• Om Prakash Kashyap, Personal Secretary of Om Prakash Rajbhar demanded Rs 40 lakhs from a person for ensuring a choice transfer in the department. He also claimed that he could get deals done in the primary education department as well.
• S P Tripathi, personal secretary of Archana Pandey was seen promising a mining lease in return of bribes. He also suggested that the entrepreneur should go for mining to Saharanpur.
• Santosh Awasthi, personal secretary of Sandeep Singh, was seen promising to ensure a contract for supply of books to school libraries.

What happened to Yogi Adityanath’s promise of providing corruption-free Government, asked Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar. “The Yogi government is trying to protect ministers by taking actions against lower level officers,” he alleged.

The buzz around ministerial corruption in the state is fairly old. Around six months ago BJP MLA from Ballia Surendra Singh had lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister that the personal staff of ministers were minting money and demanded action against them.

The warning was flagged in June but the CM and the government preferred to turn a deaf ear to the complaint. That the chief minister was aware was also indicated by Yogi Adityanath’s public warning to ministers to be wary of corruption in their departments.

Aradhana Mishra, a Congress law maker points out that purchase of books for government schools is vetted and verified at different places like the directorate, secretariat and then at the minister’s level. The sting clearly indicates that either the PA had enough clout in all levels or the minister himself was involved in the decisions, she said while demanding a probe.