UP bureaucrats demand flats in Lucknow or Noida at “reasonable rates”; asks state govt to expedite promotion processes

Chief Minister Yadav with IAS officers 

UTTAR PRADESH cadre IAS officers on Saturday demanded plots or flats either in Lucknow or Noida at “reasonable rates”, according to reports quoting UP IAS Association’s annual general meeting held in Lucknow as a part of the annual IAS week ended yesterday. The officers have also demanded that the IAS of 1985 and 1986 batches should get the same pay scale as that of the chief secretary. And the process of all promotion-related matters including the promotion of 1992 batch officers as principal secretary and 2001 batch officers as secretary to the government, should be completed wrapped up before the Election Commission of India…

2017 IAS Week in Uttar Pradesh advanced to Dec 1 to 4, 2016; Will CM Akhilesh Yadav play cricket with officers this time too?

Akhilesh Yadav during a friendly cricket match with IAS XI (File photo)

UP IAS Association will have two IAS Weeks this calendar year thanks to the assembly election in the state scheduled to be held in early 2017. The UP IAS Association, possibly the most active among all state IAS associations, has decided to advance its celebration of 2017 IAS Week to December 1 to 4, 2016 because of elections, even as the last IAS Week took place only in March this year. Though many states have their own IAS associations, the one in Uttar Pradesh is not only the most active, but it…

UP IAS Week ends; CM Akhilesh Yadav hits 11 boundaries and a six in a T-20 match with IAS officers!

CM and Chief Secretary in 2015 IAS Week (file photo)

LET'S not call it a “fixed” match by the IAS officers of Uttar Pradesh, but suspicions remain. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s team defeated the UP IAS Officers Association XI in a T-20 match in Lucknow on Sunday, with Yadav scoring 65 run including 11 boundaries and a six, and yes, the award of the day — The Man of the Match. Everyone knows UP chief minister’s cricketing ability, but the way he was batting led to suspicion that either the bowlers of the IAS team were…

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav shows bribe video to his chief secretary; will there be any action?

TWO years ago, while speaking at the IAS Week in Lucknow, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav asked senior officers to analyse why they were no longer “greeted with respect” at the Centre, as there was a slide in number of UP cadre IAS in New Delhi. His tone was mild and it was more of an appeal to the officers for introspection. Last week, Yadav was speaking at the same function, and he sounded quite restless on two counts—

UP’s IAS Week: State of bureaucracy behind a “fixed” cricket match

MEDIA reports filed from Lucknow in the last few days have given graphic details about the Sunday’s cricket match that was played between CM XI and IAS XI at La Martiniere Boys College grounds in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. The reports also mentioned how chief secretary Jawed Usmani’s wife Farah…

What does chief secretary Jawed Usmani mean when he compares UP with a big aircraft?

WHEN BoI tweeted UP chief secretary and 1978 batch IAS Jawed Usmani’s statement on Saturday that “Uttar Pradesh is like a big aircraft which cannot be turned around quickly”, there were endorsements as well as sharp reactions. One Akhil Shastry wrote back saying that UP is like the Kingfisher aircraft which has been…

UP govt serves chargesheet to IAS Durga Shakti Nagpal; ball in Centre’s court

Time Up? UP IAS officers with CM after a friendly cricket match in Jan

IN YET another Sunday afternoon exercise, Uttar Pradesh government served a chargesheet to 2010 batch IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who turned a national icon for taking on illegal sand mafia in Hindon and Yamuna river beds of West UP. Exactly a week ago, also a Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav government suspended the 28-year-old officer on the pretext of…

Are UP cadre IAS officers losing “respect”? Akhilesh Yadav's smart tips

Akhilesh Yadav

IN MARCH 2010, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav made bureaucrats red faced when he reportedly said, if the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed, “wives and daughters of officers and businessmen who invite whistles from boys” would enter Parliament. Last week, Yadav’s son and current UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav targeted bureaucrats, but in a…

Why CM's secretary must not sign for CM, IPS Amitabh Thakur moves court

DURING Mayawati’s reign as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, her secretary Vijay Singh, an IPS officer, signed on documents with comments that CM approves the matter. Current CM Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party is also continuing the same practice where his secretary Anita Singh, an IAS officer of 1990 batch, signs on files in his name, alleges 1992 batch IPS officer...

Bureaucrats, their sons and daughters take a plunge into UP’s dusty politics

SP's new icon Abhishek Mishra

TILL yesterday, Jai Shanker Mishra would have passed as yet another IAS officer serving as CEO in Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). But not anymore. This 1980 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS has added one more identity. He is father of Abhishek Mishra, who dared to quit a faculty position at IIM-Ahmedabad to join Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party. In the fiercely fought UP elections, Abhishek Mishra emerged as the winner defeating his nearest Congress rival in prestigious Lucknow (North) seat. If Akhilesh Yadav is new poster boy of Indian politics, MIT product Abhishek is also an inspiration for sons and daughters of top bureaucrats not just to prepare for IIM or UPSC but to take a plunge into dusty world of politics. The son of a babu has become a neta.
In neighbouring Lucknow (East) seat, daughter of former UP chief secretary Akhand Pratap Singh took a similar risk, but she is not as lucky as Abhishek Mishra. Juhie Singh, also from Samajwadi Party, gave a tough fight to BJP heavyweight Kalraj Mishra but did not succeed.

Juhie Singh: Down But Not Out

And it’s not just Samajwadi Party which mobilized sons and daughters of bureaucrats to lead from the front. Former UP DGP Yashpal Singh’s son Yashraj fought elections from Gonda in UP on a Peace Party ticket. He lost. The Peace Party which became a news-maker for snatching prestigious seats like Rae Bareli, did a wonderful branding exercise by welcoming former bureaucrats into its fold.
Peace Party’s vice-president Rama Shanker Singh is a former IAS. Ex-DGP Yashpal Singh and ex-IPS IP Singh are Peace Party’s prominent faces.
Congress MP PL Punia, a 1971 batch former IAS, is already an inspiration for UP bureaucrats to game for real politics.

Action and Appointments

a) The Central deputation tenure of Meena Agarwal, a joint secretary in the department of expenditure in finance ministry, has been extended for three months till June 6, 2012. Mrs Agarwal is a 1981 batch IRAS officer and wife of OP Agarwal, a 1979 batch ex-IAS, now in a senior position at World Bank.
b) Ratan P Watal, a 1978 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, will continue as secretary in Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board for three months beyond March 2, 2012.