'COVID-19 cases high due to spat between 2 officials': Blame game begins in UP

B N Singh, District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar was transferred after a spat with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday (March 30) in a meeting at the district headquarters.

Adityanath, who chaired a meeting of top officials in Noida on Monday at noon, had reportedly been critical of the manner of functioning of a few top officials in the district, including B N Singh and Chief Medical Officer Anurag, claiming they had failed to contain the rise of COVID-19 cases in the district.

Noida topped the list with the highest number of coronavirus-affected persons in Uttar Pradesh after the outbreak of COVID-19, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was not pleased with the state of affairs in the district.

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B N Singh reportedly lost his cool upon hearing this and snapped back at the Chief Minister, saying he was working 18 hours a day and that there was no clear brief from higher officials of Lucknow, who were allegedly the “real culprits behind the chaos” that has spread across the state.

Immediately after the end of the meeting, he wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the state saying he wished to be relieved of this post due to “personal reasons”.

He also applied for three months leave and requested the state government to immediately find a replacement for his post. Singh also went ahead and leaked this letter to the media, which soon went viral.

Taken aback by the senior IAS officer’s decision, R K Tiwari, chief secretary of the state, issued a statement saying B N Singh had failed as District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the city. He added that Singh had been transferred as member of the State Revenue board. Furthermore, an enquiry has been initiated against Singh, which will be headed by Alok Tandon, CEO Noida.

Sources say that ever since the Commissionerate system of policing was introduced in Gautam Buddh Nagar (and Lucknow) in January this year, B N Singh had not been comfortable with his job since his authority had been greatly curtailed since Alok Singh, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) had been posted there as Commissioner of Police.

A virtual war of supremacy broke out between the IAS and the IPS lobbies of the state. The Chief Minister was told that it was because of this ongoing war of supremacy between the two officials in the district, the fight against COVID-19 was suffering and that this was the sole reason behind Gautam Buddh Nagar topping the districts in which patients were infected by this virus.

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If sources are to be believed, Singh could be suspended as soon as Alok Tandon submits his inquiry report to the state government.

Meanwhile, IAS officer Suhas Lallinakere Yathiraj, popularly known as Suhas L Y, has been made the new District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar. Apart from being a civil servant, Suhas is also a para-badminton player who won the gold medal in the Asia Para Badminton Championship in China in 2016.

(The writer is a senior journalist)