According to media reports, the tenure of former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav was replete with a number of corruption cases. Be it the fraud in UP teacher selection process, irregularities in Gomti riverfront project or appointing “favorable” officers on influential positions. There are numerous examples of irregularities in the Samajwadi government. Now, all those regularities are being exposed by the investigative agencies. Yogi Adityanath after assuming power in UP has launched a crackdown on corruption and anyone indulging in it is being taken to task. Here is a list of irregularities that occurred in the previous Uttar Pradesh government under Akhilesh Yadav.
- Illegal sand mining case:
In a massive blow to the Samajwadi Party, former CM Akhilesh Yadav is likely to face a CBI probe in a case of illegal sand mining. According to the CBI sources, all those who were ministers during the relevant period will also be investigated. The CBI conducted raids at 14 locations in connection with an FIR lodged against 11 persons including IAS officer B Chandrakala, Samajwadi Party MLC Ramesh Kumar Mishra and Sanjay Dixit (who had lost 2017 assembly elections on a BSP ticket). The allegations are that some government officials along with some individuals violated rules and regulations and allocated some illegal mining sites in the period 2012-16. The agency conducted these raids to investigate the allegations of illegal mining of minor minerals in the Hamirpur district. The FIR stated that Chandrakala, a 2008 batch IAS officer who was the district magistrate of the Hamirpur district during 2012-14 had allegedly violated the e-tender system of allotting mining contracts in the district. The FIR said, “The role of the then mining ministers concerned during the relevant period may be looked into during the course of the investigation of the case.”
- Samajwadi pension scheme:
In the Samajwadi pension scheme, a scam of billions of Rupees has surfaced. According to a report, a total of 4.50 lakh persons have been identified across the state, who were ineligible for the pension under the scheme. This scheme was implemented during the Samajwadi government in the year 2014-15. Under the Samajwadi pension scheme, the beneficiaries were provided a sum of Rs 1500 as their quarterly installment in their bank account. It is estimated that the UP government is under a debt of more than 1000 crore because of this scheme of the previous government. According to reports, pensions had been sanctioned to ineligible and dead people as well. As soon as irregularities were found in the scheme, it was scrapped. Recovery of money from ineligible beneficiaries and probe against the guilty officers started soon afterward.
- Financial anomalies in the Gomti riverfront project:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a money laundering case to probe alleged irregularities in the Rs 1,500 crore Gomti riverfront development project. The central probe agency had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED did so by taking cognizance of a CBI FIR that was registered in the case in December 2017. The ED will probe if the alleged tainted funds generated in the case were laundered to create illegal assets by the accused, officials said. The agency issued summons to those named in the complaint, including eight engineers of the state government. The CBI had taken over the investigation into the case after the Yogi Adityanath-led government ordered an inquiry to find out irregularities into the beautification project of the Gomti riverfront.
- Appointing favorables at influential positions:
Political patronage and administrative favoritism to regime oriented caste groups have always been a part of the politics of Uttar Pradesh. But the audacity and absolute disregard of a rule-based system that the previous Akhilesh Yadav government in UP displayed was something hitherto unseen. Yadav caste was not only given political patronage but, disregarding every procedural and ethical conduct, was given preference in administrative apparatus to an absurd level. Consider this, in 2015, 56 out of 86 SDMs appointed by Akhilesh Yadav were from the Yadav community. According to the Times of India report in 2014, more than 60 percent of the police stations were headed by officers belonging to the Yadav community. In capital Lucknow, 32 out of 40 police stations were headed by Yadav officers. However, the crown jewel in the ‘Yadavisation’ process of the SP government must be the UPPSC. In 2011, in the UPPSC interview exam, while the general and SC/ST candidates received 115 and 105 marks on an average, respectively and the non-Yadav OBCs had to contend with 110 marks, the Yadav group received 138 marks on an average. In 2013, 86 candidates selected for UPPSC among the OBC category, 50 were from the Yadav community. It would be important to note that the Yadav community constitutes just 9 percent of the population of UP while their representation in the UPPSC in a single year is more than 60 percent. Either the entire community got some ‘Limitless’ style drug overnight or something fishy was going on. The Headlines Today conducted a sting operation, codenamed ‘Operation Sarkar’, to find out what was the truth. The results were, as expected. There was a systematic preference given to Yadav candidates.
- Scams in the Laptop Distribution Scheme:
According to a report, there had been a scam of about 126 crores in the ‘visionary’ scheme of the previous Samajwadi government. In an RTI report filled by Shantanu Gupta, it was claimed that a total of 14,81,118 laptops were brought by Akhilesh government in the period of 2012-14. Out of those, only 6,11,000 were distributed. It means that almost 9 lakh laptops were not distributed costing a total of Rs.12,69,67,510 considering the fact that each laptop was purchased at Rs. 13,490 as claimed by Akhilesh government. Some reports also claimed that it was one of the biggest scams that happened under the Samajwadi government.
It is evident from above-mentioned facts that Akhilesh Yadav led SP government had created a mess in the state. When CM Yogi assumed power, he decided to curb the menace of corruption and took firm steps to establish the rule of law and order in the state. So far, Yogi Adityanath has been successful in his mission.
