Lucknow, December 28: In a massive administrative exercise to assess the ground-level situation of farmers, the status of paddy purchase centres and overall well being of the farmer community, the top level bureaucracy descended on ground-zero.

In a unique initiative of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, first of its kind in the state, the top Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers had been asked to go to all 75 districts of the state. The state government appointed 75 nodal officers for the task and asked to remain in their allocated districts between December 27 and 29. It was a rare event for the locals , especially the villagers, to find senior officers of the rank of Additional Chief Secretary amongst them . They had the opportunity to tell their problems and get redressed on the spot.

Braving acute cold conditions, these nodal officers, accompanied by senior district officials, inspected the paddy purchase centers and provided proper guidance to district-level officers so that the process of paddy purchase runs smoothly. These nodal officers asked the local officers to ensure strict action against the culprits if they receive any complaint related to irregularities in the process. Religious, Spiritual, Cultural Tourism to Drive Development of Purvanchal, 65% of Tourists Coming to UP Like to Visit Kashi and Kushinagar.

Ensuring that COVID-19 protocols are being properly followed in wake of a new strain of the coronavirus, the nodal officers also held a dialogue with the farmers and listened to the problems related to irrigation, availability of water in canals and power, etc in the districts. Apart from these, the nodal officers also inspected sugarcane purchasing centers, gaushalas in the districts, and made sure that the proper arrangements have been made for the storage of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), cane and sugar industry, Sanjay Bhoosreddy in Gorakhpur, Divisional Commissioner of Kanpur Raj Shekhar in Etawah, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture, Devesh Chaturvedi in Varanasi and Additional Chief Secretary, MSME and Information, Navneet Sehgal in Bareilly,Principal Secretary, PWD Nitin Gokarn in Aligarh visited various paddy purchase centres, inspected the facilities at Cow Shelters and issued necessary directions to the authorities.

Navneet Sehgal, in fact, made a visit to Baheri tehsil and held a farmer panchayat in Gurwara village impromptu to solve most of the problems on the spot. On listening to farmers, he instructed DM, Bareilly to increase the number of paddy purchase centres in the district. He also inspected the Gaushala and the hospital in Baheri and issued required directions. CM Yogi Adityanath Orders Review Works of All Development Authorities in Uttar Pradesh.

Most of the officers which included Principal Secretary, Jitendra Kumar, ACS in Shahjahanpur, Higher Education , Ms Monika Garg in Amethi, Commissioner, FDA, Ministhi S in Sitapur, Divisional Commissioner of Lucknow Ranjan Kumar in Lakhimpur Kheri , Satyendra K Singh, the Secretary of Programme Implementation Deptt in Jaunpur, made it a point to assess the progress of Varasat Abhiyan launched by Yogi government on December 15 last. They also gave valuable suggestions to further augment the arrangements in Gaushalas. These officers will submit a detailed inspection report of their visit to the government by December 30 and will also upload it on the website of the Program Implementation Department upkkv.in.