Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has kept over two dozen departments to himself, including the high-profile portfolios — home, revenue, mining and urban housing Ministries.
Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has been allotted the prestigious public works department, food processing, entertainment tax and public enterprises, while Dinesh Sharma, who is also deputy CM, has the higher and secondary education, electronics and information technology, and science and technology.
The Adityanath council of ministers has 22 Cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of State (Independent charge) and 13 Ministers of State.
Rajesh Agarwal, MLA from Bareilly Cantonment, has been allotted the finance department while veteran BJP leader Suresh Khanna is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, apart from holding the Urban Development and Integrated Urban Development Ministries.
Former SP MP S.P.S Baghel is in-charge of animal husbandry and minor irrigation, while former Congress State president Rita Bahuguna Joshi has got child development ministry, maternal and child welfare and tourism.
BSP rebel Swami Prasad Maurya is in-charge of labour and employment, while Om Prakash Rajbhar, the president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, BJP’s ally, has got the backward welfare ministry.
BJP State vice-president and an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots, Suresh Rana, has got the sugarcane development, and the lone Muslim face in team Yogi, Mohsin Raza is allotted the Muslim Waqf and Haj departments along with science and technology, electronics and IT.
Checking molestation
Meanwhile, after directions by the CM, the State police has also stepped up action against eve-teasing and as promised by the BJP in its manifesto, formed anti-Romeo squads to check molestation and harassment of women.
While three men were arrested in Lucknow, scores of young men were publicly shamed in other parts of the State. In Jhansi, a police officer was seen ordering a man to do sit-ups after he was found with a group of girls. Such incidents triggered many on social media to wonder if the campaign to check eve-teasing had turned into moral policing.
“Safety of girls/ladies is the sole intent of the anti-Romeo squads. No moral policing,” State DGP Javeed Ahmed said in a clarification.
Stress on hygiene
Two days after directing officials to declare their assets within 15 days, Mr. Adityanath also directed government staff to stop chewing paan, paan masala and other such items while in office.
The CM gave the directions after he saw betel juice-stained walls at Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan, which houses the CM’s office and offices of other senior bureaucrats.
Mr. Adityanath’s stress on hygiene and cleanliness was also apparent in his directions to the police department to keep their compounds clean.
The CM has banned all plastic products in government buildings as part of his hygiene drive.
