LUCKNOW: A day after
BJP chief
Amit Shah held a marathon meeting with UP chief minister
Yogi Adityanath, the state government started preparing for a cabinet reshuffle by merging various departments to bring down their number from the existing 90 to 34.
Top government sources confirmed to TOI that the final draft plan — based on the recommendation of NITI Aayog — has been prepared by the state planning department for implementation anytime next month. “A final call will soon be taken by the CM,” a cabinet minister told TOI.
According to the proposal, one minister will head just one department, instead of having two or more. “There are situations when an officer reports to more than one minister. This leads to inefficiency. This will allow new people to get accommodated, even if as junior ministers. It will be on the lines of the Union government where each ministry is handled by a cabinet minister and a junior colleague,” the minister said. Going by this logic, the UP council of ministers could be 68-strong although its maximum permissible strength is 60.
The plan also came up for discussion between Shah and Yogi, who held a marathon meeting with government and party functionaries on Wednesday. Sources privy to the contents of the meeting said the two leaders agreed that the new arrangement would allow the ruling BJP to do away with inefficient functionaries, while giving space to new faces.
