Uttar Pradesh: Ministers themselves expose misgovernance of Yogi Govt 1.0

During his inspection of a Community Health Centre (CHC) in Mehmodabad in Sitapur, Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister in Yogi 2.0 government Brijesh Pathak found that a doctor has been absent from work for over a year while a para-medic staff was assigned the job to carry blood samples for Covid test to Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute in Lucknow.

The Minister was aghast. He asked the Chief Medical Officer as to why a person was assigned the job to carry blood samples to Lucknow whereas the Covid tests were available in the government hospital. Incidentally, that para-medic was also doing this duty for over a year and a half and the Medical In-charge of the said CHC had not seen that para-medics for over a year.

A few days earlier he had carried out a raid in a state-run hospital in Barabanki where he found that inventory records were not maintained for years. The modern surgical contraptions were not used for months. The patients even complained that they were not getting medicines from the hospital and were forced to purchase the same from the open market.

The Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, who is also the state president of the BJP, faced the same stark reality during his departmental inspections.

During his recent visit to Jalaun in Bundelkhand, he was seen in a video castigating an officer for not ensuring the release of water till the tail of the irrigation canal. The water has not reached the tail for over a year, the minister was seen shouting at that official. “I will not tolerate this and action will be taken against the guilty officer,” he said.

In the same video, he was seen telling officers that accepting bribes is not bad. “Paisa kamana koi buri cheez nahi hai,” he was seen telling the officer. “But do not squander the whole fund. At least use some (fund) for public welfare,” he said.

Incidentally, Dr Mahendra Singh was the Jal Shakti Minister and Jai Pratap Singh was Health Minister in the Yogi 1.0 government. During the first tenure of the Yogi government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had praised both the ministers for their work. Before the assembly election, the BJP had released a 64-page booklet titled “Chunotiyon main talaashe avsar” (Challenges turned into opportunities) which talked about the achievements of the Yogi Government in various fields.

In the Irrigation department, the Yogi 1.0 government claimed that it has completed 18 impending irrigation projects benefitting more than 50 lakh farmers in the state. Then the Chief Minister said that the projects which were pending for over two decades and were completed during Yogi Raj are: Saryu Canal National Project, Arjun Sahayak Canal Project, and Bansagar Project.

On the health front, the Chief Minister had claimed in his previous stint that with the multi-pronged approach, the government was able to limit transmission of coronavirus in the densely populated state like UP. The emphasis is on strict screening, proper treatment, and aggressive vaccination. He further said that by strengthening the public health system, clear risk communication, and active participation, despite being the most populous state, the Yogi-led Uttar Pradesh has been able to effectively manage the pandemic with a steady decline in the number of fresh cases and Covid deaths as compared to all other states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

However, the recent inspections being carried out by Ministers have exposed the misgovernance during the Yogi 1.0 government.