CM Yogi Adityanath orders confiscation of tainted engineer’s property

Lucknow: Cracking the whip on corruption, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday directed authorities to confiscate the property of an executive engineer who had been found guilty of corruption in a road construction project.
During a review of the Basti division on Tuesday, the CM said that the government had a zero tolerance policy against corruption and strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty. Principal secretary, PWD, informed the CM that the concerned executive engineer has already been dismissed from service.
Unhappy with the slow progress of tourism projects under the Bharat Swadesh Yojana in Kapilvastu, a key location in the Buddha circuit, the CM has ordered shifting of the project manager of UPRNN, the agency executing the projects. He was also miffed over the delay in the construction of the Basti collectorate building, which had received sanction 11 years back. He said that the construction of community toilets and the village secretariat buildings in Basti division were not up to the mark.
While reviewing projects of over Rs 10 crore in the Basti division, comprising Basti, Siddharthnagar and Sant Kabir Nagar districts, the CM said that execution of welfare schemes like PM Awas Yojana, CM Awas Yojana and toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission should be fast-tracked.
The CM said that local officers should coordinate with public representatives to make proposals for farm producing organisations and godowns at block level.
Currently, there are four mega projects being executed in Basti division of over Rs 50 crore each with a combined cost of about Rs 889.21 crore. These include Maharishi Vashistha Medical College in Basti, District Jail in Sant Kabir Nagar, government medical College, Siddharthnagar and Siddharth University.
The divisional commissioner apprised the CM of efforts being taken to commission the district jail in Sant Kabir Nagar by next month. The CM has said that a team of experts should be sent to physically verify the quality of construction of the medical college in Siddharthnagar.
The CM stressed on the execution of projects in a time-bound manner, saying that delays escalate the project cost and added that the utilisation certificate should be made available after 75% percent of the work is complete so that the remaining funds may be released.