Yogi Adityanath raps IAS officers over stray cattle menace & women’s safety

LUCKNOW: In his customary address to bureaucrats at the ongoing IAS week on Friday afternoon, CM Yogi Adityanath expressed his displeasure over three things.

With the exception of a handful of districts, he said, DMs were slow in handling the stray cattle menace in the state. Safety of women had become a concern for which he has directed that the notorious anti-Romeo squads be activated and that coverage of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme be increased.

In the midst of high praise for work being done by the bureaucracy, especially in the recently concluded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and the ongoing Kumbh, the CM in his hour long speech said that district administration was aware of the government’s plans to shut down illegal slaughterhouses and should have anticipated that a problem of stray cattle would emerge.

A senior IAS official present at the address said that giving the example of a few districts like Etawah, the CM said that other than these, the remaining districts were not taking prompt enough action.

“Stray cattle is causing major farm distress and it is hurting the government. The CM has asked DMs strictly to ensure that stray cattle is moved to shelters immediately. Land acquisition for cow shelters is to be acquired at war footing,” he said.

Talking about a low rate of claims under Ayushman Bharat medical insurance plan, Yogi said that coverage under it needs to be increased. “The other matter he raised was that of women’s security. He said that police and administration need to be sensitive to complaints and ensure timely action. As part of the plan to discourage crime against women, he said that anti-Romeo squads should also be activated,” said a DM.

The CM spent a considerable part of his speech praising the bureaucrats and encouraging them to work harder. A senior official posted in Lucknow added that CM, who also arrived late at the event by more than two hours as his arrival in Lucknow from Gorakhpur was delayed, “was very encouraging” and even on the three issues where he expressed concern, “he was not angry”.