Report Card of UP CM Yogi Adityanath:  2/5 but 5/5 for pettiness & bigotry

Three years of Ajay Singh Bisht alias Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has a dismal record based on the state government’s own figures and admissions besides official Government of India data available in public domain.

A summary report card:

· NCRB records show crime has gone up in UP

In 2018 UP recorded 21711 cases of kidnapping, 8908 of rioting and 3218 of robbery. The cases of violent crime also increased.

Unfulfilled years of failed promises

1. When Yogi Government came to power, the first announcement it made was about providing pot-hole free roads. Three years later, roads are still full of them.

2. The promise of providing free books, uniforms and dress to students in state-run schools have remained unfulfilled.

3. In 2017 Yogi had announced that all roads of Gram Sabhas would be connected to state highways through pucca roads. The PWD records say that only 56 per cent of the roads are connected with Gram Sabhas with all weather roads.

4. Over 2000 posts of doctors are still vacant, calling the bluff that all PHCs would get qualified doctors.

5. The promise to provide uninterrupted electric supply also remains unfulfilled.

6. The government had promised laptops to students taking admission in colleges, crop loan to farmers and opening of generic pharma shops in every villages but they have remained mere promises.

· Wheat and paddy procurement targets not met

When Yogi came to power, he declared that his government would meet the target to procure wheat and paddy. It even chastised the previous Akhilesh Yadav government for failing to meet the target. “We will show how targets are achieved,” Yogi had declared at a press conference.

But it has consistently failed to meet the targets. In 2019-20 against the target to procure 55 LMT of wheat, the government procured 37 MLT and against the target of 50 LMT of paddy, it procured just 28 LMT.

· Priority to spend public money on temples

The Yogi government allotted Rs 447 Crore for acquisition of 61 hectares in Ayodhya to build the ‘world’s tallest 251-metre high statue of Lord Ram’. This is besides Rs 200 Crore sanctioned earlier this year for carrying out technical studies for building the statue. Rs 207 Crore have been sanctioned for the expansion and beautification of the road from the Ganga bank to Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. Rs 16 crore were allocated to set up a Vaidik Vigyan Kendra in Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya and Rs 27 crore for Garh Mukteshwar.

The government has started reviving ancient temples. In Lucknow, ancient temples like Mandabir Baba, Lokeshwar Mahadev Mandir, Mangalmeshwar Dham and Vishwakarma Mandir are being renovated. Renovation is complete in Mandabir Baba temple located in Alambagh area.

· Even police in UP under attack

In 2017 the SSP Saharanpur was attacked by BJP law maker when the police officer had gone to stop a communal riot. Since then police officers have been at the receiving end. At least five policemen are said to have committed suicide.

In March, 2019 two policemen were beaten up in Bahraich; in September policemen were beaten up in Ghazipur. Earlier in March policemen were assaulted in Sultanur. 37 cases of attack on police in the last three years have been filed.

· The much-hyped anti-Romeo squad failed as number of crime against women has gone up

27.9 per cent cases registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or his relatives’. This is followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (21.7%), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (20.5%) and ‘Rape’ (7.0%). As many as 56,011 cases were registered on violence against women. Incidents of chain snatching went up by 23 per cent in 2019 compared to 2018.

· Targeting Muslims for meeting political ends.

In February this year Chief Minister declared that Muslims who chose to stay in India had done no favour to India. They had an option and they had exercised their option. They should have opposed partition, which led to the formation of Pakistan, he said in a public address.

The state government stands accused of encouraging fake encounters against Muslims, using excessive force against anti-CAA protestors. Reports from Kanpur city, Muzaffarnagar, Lucknow, Saharanpur and Unnao showed policemen vandalising cars and homes in Muslim-populated areas. Thousands, mostly Muslim men, were detained across the state.

· A vindictive CM puts Dr Kafeel Khan in jail but gave clean chit to three other doctors in Gorakhpur oxygen scarcity case.

Stealthily, the Yogi Government has reinstated three doctors who were suspended following the infamous oxygen scarcity case in BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur leading to the death of over 60 children, 23 of them in one night in August 2017. Another doctor Dr Kafeel Khan, who too was suspended but was initially absolved of all charges in a departmental enquiry, is in jail and is booked under NSA for hate speech.

In August 2019 Dr Khan was absolved of the charges of medical negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty on the day when children died due to oxygen shortage.

· Lax administration and missing control

The Yogi Government boasts of having taken punitive action against 700 officers of different ranks in the last three years. But there has been little improvement on the ground. The Chief Minister still needs to call up district officials and direct them to reach the spot after every accident or natural calamity. Compared to Mayawati’s tenure, bureaucrats do not seem to dread reviews by the CM because he apparently has neither clarity nor the information on different subjects.

· Corruption in government offices still high

The public perception is that though Maharaj (as Yogi is known among masses) is not taking money, the people below him from ministers to Chaprasi are all accepting bribes to do any work. No work is possible in this government without paying the ‘Suvidha Shulk. Several ministers have deputed their relatives in their own departments as OSDs to act as agents and brokers.

· Casteism or ‘Thakurvaad’ in administration.

Many of the key posts in the bureaucracy and the police are held by people from Gorakhpur or belong to the chief minister’s own caste.

· Illegal Mining rampant

The last budget session of the state legislature witnessed a war of words between Samajwadi Party members and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna over prevalent illegal mining. The opposition said that price of sand and coarse sand had gone up. Even ruling party legislators complained about sky-rocketing price of sand.

· Sugarcane arrears going up

In November 2019 cane farmers in Meerut blocked the busy Meerut-New Delhi highway demanding clearance of sugarcane dues. Chief Minister had announced that all dues would be cleared by August 31. But arrears of 2018-19 stood at Rs 6500 crore. Farmers in various parts of western Uttar Pradesh, where sugarcane is the primary crop, have been protesting. Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore and Saharanpur too have seen farmers take to the streets to demand payment of their pending arrears.

As per the provisions of the UP Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1953, sugarcane arrears ought to be cleared by sugar mills within 14 days of taking delivery of cane. If the payment is delayed, sugar mills are required to pay an interest of 15 per cent per annum for the period of the delay in addition to the principal amount.However, none of these rules are followed or enforced in UP.

· Stray cattle menace, earlier confined to Bundelkhand, has now spread all over UP.

The Yogi government’s efforts to tackle stray animal menace has fallen flat as much-hyped cow adoption project finds no takers. In August Chief Minister had announced that one lakh stray animals, mainly cows, would be adopted across the state in three months. But the government’s own figures suggest that in two and a half months not even 10,000 cows have been adopted. This was despite government gave support in form of Rs 900 per month as fodder which is sent directly to the bank account of the beneficiary.