In Adityanath's UP, bureaucrats in the firing line

BJP-led govt has put various Akhilesh- and Mayawati-era projects under the scanner

In the backdrop of former coal secretary H C Gupta being handed a two-year jail term by a special CBI court in New Delhi after being convicted, along with two others, of cheating, a similar fate could befall several serving and superannuated bureaucrats of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre.

After coming to power, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at its helm, had announced to unearth alleged irregularities and syphoning off public money in flagship government projects during the previous Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav governments.

Adityanath has already ordered probes into several key projects of the Akhilesh government — Gomti Riverfront project, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Jai Prakash Narain International Centre, Old Lucknow beautification, among others.

Further, the case of the sale of 21 government-owned sugar mills during the Mayawati regime (2007-12) at throwaway prices is also under the scanner.

The probes are on and, depending upon reports, actions would follow. The 100 Day Report Card being prepared by different ministers has also intensified the spectre of action on bureaucrats deemed to be complicit in alleged public funds squanders.

Gomti Riverfront Development project

A week after taking over as the chief minister, Adityanath had made a spot inspection of the Gomti Riverfront and expressed displeasure over cost overruns by almost 100 per cent even as the project still remained incomplete.

Launched in 2014, the project, which is still underway, was inaugurated by Akhilesh in November 2016 to beat the announcement of poll dates and enforcement of model code of conduct.

The project, which was estimated to cost Rs 1,500 crore, is still only 60 per cent complete, while an additional amount of Rs 1,500 crore has been requisitioned, which effectively increases its cost to Rs 3,000 crore.

Under the previous Samajwadi Party regime, then UP irrigation and PWD minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and irrigation department principal secretary Deepak Singhal had visited Japan to study riverfront developments in Tokyo and Osaka. Singhal, who was considered close to Shivpal, was later elevated as the state chief secretary, although he was shunted out at the fag end of the Akhilesh regime and replaced by Rahul Bhatnagar.

After coming to power, Adityanath had ordered an enquiry by Justice (retired) Alok Kumar Singh into the Gomti Riverfront project. The report has now been submitted to the government and it is learnt to have indicted then chief secretary Alok Ranjan, Deepak Singhal and other senior officials, including government engineers and contractors, for neglect, lack of transparency and misappropriation of funds in awarding contracts.

Meanwhile, Ranjan told Business Standard that as a chief secretary his task was to ensure coordination between different departments. He maintained that the financial and tendering processes were handled by other departments, including finance. 

Now, the Yogi government has formed a high-level committee to study the recommendations of the Justice Singh report and recommend action to be taken, including if a CBI probe would be necessary. The committee is chaired by UP Cabinet minister Suresh Khanna. 

Agra-Lucknow Expressway

This flagship project, estimated to cosr Rs 15,000 crore, is also being probed. The expressway was inaugurated by Akhilesh with much fanfare on November 21, 2016. The six-lane expressway, extendable to eight lanes, traverses 10 districts of the state — Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Kanpur City, Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow.

The expressway, which is still incomplete, is under scrutiny for an alleged scam, involving farm land passed off as residential land, to fetch higher compensation. The state has directed the respective district magistrates to probe big land deals.

BJP president Amit Shah had also alleged the cost of constructing the expressway was much higher than the cost incurred by the National Highways Authority of India.

Around 3,500 hectare of land was purchased from about 20,500 farmers spanning 10 districts for this project.

Other projects under the scanner

• Akhilesh had laid the foundation of a museum in Old Lucknow’s Hussainabad area and inaugurated the re-development of the adjoining area on December 4, 2016, weeks before the model code of conduct was enforced in UP

• The Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre, whose blueprint included a museum, guest house, aquatic block with world-class swimming and diving pools, convention centre and sports complex

• The Lucknow International Cricket Stadium is under the scanner and a report has been sought from the UP sports department

• The CBI is probing the alleged mining scam in UP with regards to unauthorised and unbridled mining of sand and minerals from the river beds, especially in the Bundelkhand region