LUCKNOW: Even as the Lokpal battle rages in the Capital, the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta is showing just what such a proposed ombudsman at the Centre is capable of doing. Based on Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra’s reports, two ministers have been sacked in the state; two more may be on their way for the same reasons.
The last to go was Oudhpal Yadav, minister for animal husbandry and dairy development, who was sacked following his severe indictment by the Lokayukta for misuse of power and grave financial irregularities. “The minister had got 21 veterinary hospitals constructed in just one tehsil, Aliganj in Etah district, grabbed agricultural land of poor and the helpless people in his home district and allotted contracts for constructions of government hospitals of his department to his kith and kin, including to firms owned by his son, in an illegal manner,” the chargesheet against Yadav says. Chief Minister Mayawati did not lose much time and sacked the minister. Yadav was preceded by Rajesh Tripathi, minister for homeopathy, who was sacked in December last year.
Two others—Minister for Higher Secondary Education Rang Nath Mishra and Horticulture Minister Narain Singh, are also under the Lokayukta scanner. “Sooner or later, they may also face the heat,” said an anonymous source from the Lokayukta office.
Justice Mehrotra’s success in netting big fish has made the Lokayukta a real authority in Uttar Pradesh, far removed from its earlier perception of being a toothless tiger.
Oudhpal Yadav, who had independent charge of animal husbandry and dairy development, functioned like a monarch till he was sacked last week. It was a complaint by Dr Subodh Yadav, a resident of Lucknow, that got the ball rolling. Dr Yadav levelled a series of allegations against the minister, and the Lokayukta found that the minister had got 189 veterinary hospitals constructed in the last three years, of which 26 are in his home district. Twenty-one of these 26 were in his assembly constituency, Aliganj, while 14 of these were constructed by a company owned by his son, Ranjit Singh. Most of the 189 veterinary hospitals have no staff till date, states the Lokayukta report, adding: “The intention seems to be pocketing commissions in the mindless and illegal construction of the hospitals.”
Another charge against the minister was of renting out the house of his brother-in-law to run a chilling plant. The charge was easily proved, for the house was not required, as the dairy development department already had a plant in the same area. Also, the entire process did not follow established procedure. Oudhpal Yadav was also charged with sheltering a manufacturer of illicit country liquor, as well as for his involvement in a massacre of three persons, which is being probed by the police. The Lokayukta chargesheet against the minister reveals a blatant misuse of power and authority, and coercion of the state machinery and the police to settle scores with political rivals.
In December last year, Rajesh Tripathi, minister for homeopathy, was charged with constituting a charitable trust which had as its members his father, wife, uncle and brother. This charitable trust was constituted after Tripathi became a minister in May 2007. “The charity done by this trust known to the public so far, is grabbing government land, building shops and shopping plazas on it,” a complaint made to the Lokayukta said. An investigation substantiated the charges. Mayawati sacked the minister on receiving the report, giving Tripathi the dubious honour of being the first minister to lose his job at the instance of the Lokayukta.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is not too far behind in the Uttar Pradesh cleanup. One of the CAG’s latest reports points a finger at the Youth Welfare and Sports Department for getting 21 mini-stadia constructed in districts across the state. These stadia, made between 2004 and 2009 at a cost of Rs 18 crore, remain unstaffed and unused, which amounts to callous wastage of government funds. Sports minister Ayodhya Prashad Pal may be in trouble soon. “We will raise the issue in the next Assembly session,” said Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Hridaya Narain Dixit.