Lucknow: The government in India’s Uttar Pradesh state has ordered a probe against personal secretaries of three senior ministers after a sting operation conducted by a TV channel showed them seeking bribes for various favours including transfers, an official said on Thursday.
Additional chief secretary (Secretariat Administration) Mahesh Gupta has ordered the probe and in all likelihood the concerned officials would be suspended anytime now, the source said.
In the sting operation, Om Prakash Kashyap, personal secretary of Backward Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, is shown allegedly seeking Rs4 million (Dh208,797) for a transfer.
There are also alleged recordings of the secretariat staff assuring the reporter posing as a contractor that a school bag and uniform contract would be swung in his favour and talks would be held with the husband of Minister of State for Bsic Education Anupama Jaiswal.
The secretary of the minister is shown seeking a cut in proceeds from a tender for socks and shoes. The minister, who is from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), has clarified that he has nothing to do with the incident and has asked principal secretary of his department to order a probe into the whole issue.
In the same sting operation the secretary to Minister of State (Mining) Archana Pandey is shown striking a deal with the reporter for getting him mining contracts in about half a dozen districts. The secretary, S.P. Tripathi, will be investigated by a special investigation team (SIT), the minister said adding that stringent action will be taken against her PS.
Santosh Awasthi, personal secretary to the Minister of State (Basic Education), Sandeep Singh, is also seen in the sting operation “working out a deal” on a books contract and seeking his own cut in the deal. Sandeep Singh is the grandson of former UP chief minister and currently the Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh.
The sting operation has come has a rude shock to the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in UP which has often spoken of probity and good governance.
On many public platforms, chief minister Adityanath has claimed that graft has been eradicated from the system under his watch.
The sting operation however has exposed his claims and could add to the ever growing woes of the BJP government.
