Lucknow: On Friday, 10 days after the Free Press Journal published a story titled as ’UP bureaucracy at standstill amid ad-hoc appointments on top posts’, the Yogi Adityanath Government of Uttar Pradesh finally appointed the senior most bureaucrat RK Tiwari as the full-time chief secretary of the State.
The 1985-batch officer had been handling the post as interim CS since August 31, 2019 despite having all qualifications for the post and impeccable service record.
The DGP post , which was lying vacant after retirement of OP Singh on 31 January, is still vacant. Senior IPS officer HC Awasthi has been given the charge.
The way the most important administrative office - Chief Secretary- had been functioning in India’s most populous state so far, has not only perplexed the 600-strong IAS cadre in the state but has brought the bureaucracy at standstill.
In the past, full time CS used to be appointed within a week.
Political analyst Hemant Tiwari says, “Delaying appointment on crucial posts doesn’t only dent the image of the government but also demotivates the deserving officers.”
He also expressed hope that UP will soon get a permanent DGP as well.
Interestingly, the Union Public Service Commission, has shortlisted the three names and submitted the list to the UP government on Wednesday, sources said. However, the final selection, which lies with the CM, is still pending for no reasons apart from caste-factor.
The officers are-AP Maheshwari (1984 batch) who is the DG of CRPF, HC Awasthi (1985 batch) the current interim DGP and Arun Kumar (1985 batch), Additional Director General (Law and Order).
The government also appointed Alok Sinha as Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC), which is the number two post in State bureaucracy. RK Tiwari was the previous APC.
