UP CM cracks the whip, suspends Gonda and Fatehpur DMs

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday suspended the District Magistrates of Gonda and Fatehpur for non-performance, an official said.

Accused of a slackened pace of governance and having no hold on the state's bureaucracy -- which many felt was also the reason behind the back-to-back defeats of the ruling BJP in bypolls -- the monk-turned-Chief Minister has started to crack the whip.

Informed sources told IANS that while Fatehpur District Magistrate Kumar Prashant has been shown the door for failure in the proper implementation of government schemes, J.B. Singh, the District Magistrate of Gonda, has been punished for his failure to control illegal mining.

Balkar Singh, another IAS officer who is under the shadow of many charges of irregularities, was on Tuesday removed as the Director of the Mining Department and posted as Director of Disabled Welfare, a post considered a dumping ground for bureaucrats who have run afoul of the powers that be.

Sources said that even as the Chief Minister has started a physical inspection of government schemes in various districts, he has also decided to tackle the problems in the bureaucracy head-on, more so because it has been almost 16 months since the new government assumed charge.

Recent drubbings in the bypolls in the state have also forced him to make changes, a close aide told IANS, adding that more action will follow in the days to come.

"Maharajji (Adityanath) is in no mood to go soft and has the go ahead from the party leadership to act tough with the officials who are not in sync with the government line," the aide said, adding that action has now shifted to the big bosses rather than the junior and middle-rung government officials.

--IANS

md/him/bg