Major bureaucratic reshuffle on the cards in UP

Lucknow: A major bureaucratic reshuffle is on the cards this month in Uttar Pradesh.

Several district magistrates and police chiefs who did not discharge their duties "honestly" during the recent Lok Sabha elections, will find their names on the transfer lists.

"Several candidates have informed us that some officials made a conscious effort to help other party candidates and they had even sent complaints in this regard to the Election Commission. We have sent the report to the chief minister who will act on the matter," said a senior BJP functionary.

Changes are also expected in the chief minister's secretariat since additional chief secretaries, S P Goyal and Devesh Chaturvedi, are set to proceed on central deputation. Three more IAS officers -- K V Pandian, Anil Dhingra and Kumar Ravikant Singh - have also been empanelled for central posting.

Besides, UP chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra's tenure is also due to end on June 30. Mishra has already received three extensions from the Centre and it is unlikely that he may get another one.

A new chief secretary is, therefore, expected to take over in the coming weeks.

The state cabinet, meanwhile, has already approved the new transfer policy for 2024-25 and an increase in the salaries of employees retiring on June 30 and December 31.

Under this policy, Group A and B officers who have completed three years in the district and seven years in the division can be transferred.

Transfers are also imminent because Uttar Pradesh will soon face Assembly by-elections on about a dozen seats and the administrative reshuffle has to be done before the model code of conduct comes into force.

A senior official in the CM secretariat said, "The chief minister is busy with preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi visit on June 18. After that, he will finalise the transfer list for IAS and IAS officers."