Lucknow: Politicians and civil servants have always had a tense relationship in Uttar Pradesh, and tensions between the two have now burst into the open once again.
Following complaints from several ministers and MLAs about the indifferent attitude of civil servants, the Yogi government has issued its fourth warning in seven years, cautioning officials of strict action if they don’t listen to public representatives.
The 12 September order, signed by Principal Secretary of Parliamentary Affairs J.P. Singh, states: “Ensure replies to the letters of public representatives and take necessary action on priority, otherwise action will be taken as per rules.”
The directive was sent to all top officials, including additional chief secretaries, the director general of police, department heads, divisional commissioners and district magistrates.
ThePrint has accessed a copy of the government order, which said that despite repeated instructions, many legislators had complained that their letters were not getting any response and their queries and concerns were not being addressed.
“This is damaging the image of the state government,” the principal secretary said in the order, which followed complaints by at least a dozen MLAs, including ministers, during the monsoon session of the state legislature last month.
To fix this, officers have been told to maintain a register of all correspondence with public representatives and ensure that every letter is acknowledged and replied to with details of action taken.
Harshvardhan Bajpai, MLA from Prayagraj (North), welcomed the Yogi government’s new move: “These guidelines must be followed strictly. As public representatives, we are accountable to the people and raise their issues. At the local level, strict action should be taken against officials who ignore MPs and MLAs.”
What happened
The matter gained momentum after two back-to-back incidents involving Cabinet Minister Baby Rani Maurya triggered a row.
In the first week of this month, the minister called a coordination meeting with officials and farmers in Agra, but no officials showed up.
A few days later, Maurya, who’s the women’s development minister and observer of Jhansi, wrote to the principal secretary (home) and the DGP, asking for action against Sipri police station in-charge Anand Singh.
This was after Babina MLA Rajeev Kumar Parichha complained that Singh held a personal grudge against him and often abused him in public. The minister also spoke of Singh’s bad behaviour and wrote to top officials, after which action was taken.
Back in July, when the chief minister directed senior officials to answer calls on their official phones, senior BJP leader and former Manikpur MLA Aanand Shukla criticised Banda’s district magistrate on X. He wrote that the DM “doesn’t return calls”, and that SDMs and other officials also behave the same way, “almost as if they want the government to fail”.
Shukla wasn’t the only one complaining in Banda. Another MLA from the district, Prakash Dwivedi, expressed the same frustration. He said officials often ignore public representatives, and even when they do pick up calls, they don’t listen properly.
In the same month, a letter by Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath went viral. He made serious allegations against officials, accusing them of ignoring government policies, negligence, disobeying ministerial directives, and extending undue benefits to select individuals.
Nandi was the eighth minister in the state to have raised questions on the officials in his own government during Yogi Adityanath’s second tenure. Before him, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, cabinet ministers Ashish Patel, Sanjay Nishad and Jaiveer Singh, as well as Ministers of State Dinesh Pratap Singh, Dinesh Khatik and Pratibha Shukla, also raised questions on government officials on different occasions.
According to a senior Uttar Pradesh BJP leader, several instances of friction between state ministers and civil servants have emerged over the past three years.
The matter first came to light in July 2022 when Brajesh Pathak wrote to the then Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health), Amit Mohan Prasad, expressing his displeasure over the transfer of doctors during his absence from the state.
Since then, many ministers have resorted to writing letters against officials, several of which later surfaced on social media.
UP-based political analyst and retired Lucknow University professor Dr. S.K. Dwivedi said the directive was a welcome step.
“The tussle between officials and public representatives must end. It not only hampers developmental work but also damages the government’s image. The Yogi government should focus on resolving these issues,” he told ThePrint.
Some opposition leaders feel the need for such an order is a reflection of a deeper problem.
“Public representatives have no say in the current regime. They are forced to leak their complaint letters against officials, which clearly shows that the chief minister does not trust MPs and MLAs. This is a shameful situation for the BJP government,” said UP Congress spokesperson Shuchi Vishwas.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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