Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday took two important decisions on public demand. He ordered a stay on demolition of all houses built in the river flood zone across Lucknow and also put a hold on the implementation of digital attendance for thousands of basic school teachers for the next two months. Officials of the state irrigation department had put red markings on houses built in Pant Nagar, Abrar Nagar, Indraprastha Nagar and Rahim Nagar in Lucknow, saying these were meant for demolition by bulldozers. Yogi told residents of these colonies that there would be no demolition, but accountability will be fixed against officials who allowed these colonies to be built on a floodplain zone in the first place.
These buildings fall within the 50-metre floodplain area of Kukrail canal, where no construction is allowed. The owners of these buildings had their properties registered with local authorities, were paying house tax to the Municipal Corporation, and had valid electricity connections. The house owners had formed a Trans-Gomati Niwasi Sangharsh Samiti and had been resisting demolition. Yogi appealed to officers not to create confusion and fear in the minds of people. There were celebrations in the colonies of Lucknow which had been spared from demolitions. State minister Sanjay Nishad welcomed Yogi's decision. He mentioned the incident of June 30 in Jaunpur, when bulldozer was used to demolish 50 trees in the garden of a woman named Lilawati, after she refused to vote in favour of the village pradhan. Lilawati had met Nishad in Lucknow, when the village pradhan's son, in collusion with local officials, used a bulldozer to demolish the trees. Timely intervention by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saved the home of Lilawati which was about to be demolished.
Whether it is the incident in Jaunpur or in Lucknow, a section of bureaucrats in UP have started taking the law into their hands by indiscriminately using bulldozers to demolish properties. Yogi had ordered the use of bulldozers to demolish illegally acquired properties of local mafia dons and gangsters, but some bureaucrats, using this as a facade, started harassing people by threatening the use of bulldozers. Yogi has now started reining in these 'Dirty Harrys'. This is a welcome step. The demands of people living in Lucknow are also justified. They have been saying that they legally bought land by paying stamp duties to the government, got them registered, and got the mutation process done, but irrigation department officials were then sleeping. Nobody from that department objected. These people have been saying why they should be punished for the mistakes of some bureaucrats. Yogi on Tuesday clearly said that the accountability of bureaucrats will be fixed and action will be taken against those officers who put red markings on the buildings, meant for demolition in the flood zone.
In another decision, the UP government on Tuesday postponed its decision to implement online digital attendance for teachers, after statewide protests. The state chief secretary told a delegation of teachers that an experts' committee will be set up to review the decision to digitise all 12 types of registers in schools across the state and also take up other teachers' issues. Earlier, on Monday night, Yogi Adityanath took a meeting of primary education department officials and asked them how such a decision was taken in a hurry, without taking the teachers into confidence. The chief secretary met the leaders of the teachers' union and promised to set up a committee to review the decision. Till that time, the decision for digital attendance will be kept in abeyance. It is a fact that the officials issued the order without checking whether there was digital internet connectivity in each and every primary school in the state or not. Teachers are also used for other government work like census, survey, election, etc. Most of the time state government app does not work, and the teachers were finding themselves in a quandary as to how to mark their attendance digitally. It was only after Yogi intervened that the state government met the teachers' union leaders, the ground reality was realized and the matter was sorted out.
In a third decision, the Yogi government has decided to review all government land leases afresh and take action against officials who will be found responsible for giving government land on lease illegally. IAS officer Devi Sharan Upadhyay was suspended on Tuesday on charge of irregularities in giving government land on lease in Aligarh. In governance, the main problem is a lack of direction communication. Yogi directly listened to the pleas of commoners, bypassing bureaucrats and politicians. Such direct communication has its own benefit. Bureaucrats work as a bridge between the government and the people. Such problems arise when some bureaucrats do not discharge their tasks effectively. Yogi has already started wielding the stick, beginning with senior IAS officer Devi Sharan Upadhyay, who has been suspended.
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