RTI: UP SC/ST panel chief appointed arbitrarily by Yogi government

Former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Brij Lal, who joined the BJP after his retirement, was appointed the State SC/ST Commission chief arbitrarily and without due procedure, an RTI response has revealed.

The Right To Information (RTI) was filed by Lucknow-based activist Nutan Thakur. The Social Welfare Department responded to her query saying the 1977 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who retired in 2014, was appointed directly by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, after summoning his file from the department.

As per the RTI information, Principal Secretary Social Welfare Department Manoj Singh was directed to present the position of appointments in the State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission. Singh presented the file on April 17.

In this file, the Chief Minister directly appointed Lal as the chairman on the same day, without any departmental recommendation or process adopted in this regard.

The department was also “directed from the top” to provide "State Minister status" to Brij Lal, a proposal which was presented on April 20, without the recommendation of the departmental minister and Adityanath immediately approved it on the same day.

Thakur, the RTI activist said the matter “sadly demonstrates how major administrative decisions are being made under political pressure from the top, circumventing procedures”.