Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath’s Government Presents Whitepaper On Mismanagement By Previous Governments, Triggers Row

Alleging mismanagement during the previous governments in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today brought out a detailed white paper blaming them for various ills, prompting opposition SP and Congress to hit back.

The white paper was released a day before the Adityanath government completes six months in office.

Before presenting the achievements of our government in six months, it is important to bring a white paper on the working of previous governments in the state, Adityanath said.

"There was a series of karname (misdeeds) by governments in the state during the past 12 to 15 years but we have focussed on some main points and presented them in a concise form...It is important as we are answerable to the people and committed to them," he said.

Presenting statistics to stress the "dismal state" of Public Sector Units (PSUs) in the state, Adityanath said 65 such entities had in 2011-12 suffered losses worth Rs 6,489.58 crore which rose to Rs 17,789.91 crore in 2015-17.

The collective losses of PSUs in 2011-12 stood at Rs 29,380.10 crore which rose to Rs. 91,401.19 crore in 2015-16, he said.

All such units that could have been used for the development of the state in the past 12 to 15 years have closed and this proves how "irresponsible, corrupt and anti- people" the previous governments were, he said apparently targeting the SP and the BSP, even though he did not name them.

Presenting data, he said debt had risen two and a half times in the past ten years.

Because of the "faulty policies" of the previous governments there was an imbalance in the financial condition of the state, the chief minister said adding that by the time the present government took over, "the coffers were empty and debts very high".

"(During the past 12-15 years) development works came to a standstill...brakes were applied not on corruption but on development," he lamented, adding that patronage was extended to anti-social elements and the corrupt.

In the past six months, BJP government worked in line with its commitment towards the people, Adityanath said.

The 24-page document refers to law and order, farmers plight, sale of sugar mills, PWD, police recruitment, UPPSC recruitment, NRHM, education, power, medical education, tourism and culture, housing and urban planning, women welfare and child development, excise, industrial development, minority welfare, construction of memorials and public transport.

Hours after the chief minister released the document, the Samajwadi Party trashed it as an effort to hide failures and shirk responsibility.

"The BJP government has tried to shirk responsibility by issuing the white paper. Its an attempt to hide failures by highlighting the shortcomings of previous regimes. Infact, the BJP has not shown any interest in starting new schemes," SP Spokesman Rajendra Choudhary said.

"BJP came to power by befooling the people. The administrative machinery has failed and the development work has stopped. Despite double engine (BJP dispensations at the Centre and in the state) the government has failed to move," he said.

The Congress responded saying that perhaps the chief minister had forgotten that it was because of the failures of the previous governments that the BJP had come to power.

"He will present the achievements of his government in two days time. Will Yogiji talk about the dismal law and order situation? Will he mention his achievements on the death of innocent kids in BRD medical college and Farrukhabad hospitals?," Congress media incharge Satyadev Tripathi posed.

Will he tell how many youths have been given jobs or how farmers have been befooled in the name of loan waiver? Tripathi asked.

"If he has so much confidence in his governments achievements, why he chose the back door to enter the legislature and not sought direct election," the Congress leader added.

Meanwhile, the chief minister also indicated today that his government could go into the issue of alleged irregularities in the construction of memorials during the Mayawati regime.

Citing the CAG report for the year ending March 31, 2013, the white paper states that state government approved four memorials in Lucknow and one in Noida between 2007-2008 to 2009-2010 for which the original sanction was for Rs 943.73 crore which was amended to Rs 4558.02 crore, an increase of 483 per cent.

"Besides, additional works worth Rs 3537.68 crore were included in it...This was totally unnecessary expenditure," the white paper states adding that the selection of a consultant for the project was done in an arbitrary manner.

The remarks of the CAG show that there were massive irregularities in the construction of the memorials, the white paper states. In May 2013, the then Lokayukta NK Mehrotra in a report submitted to then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had claimed that public money worth Rs 1,400 crores was siphoned off in construction of memorials and indicted 199 people including her once close aide and former BSP minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui.

Adityanath said that CAG and Lokayukta reports in this regard will be placed before the Legislative Assembly.