Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate B.N. Singh was transferred to Lucknow and attached to the Board of Revenue on Monday after he sought to proceed on three-month leave on a day the number of COVID-19-positive persons in the district touched 38, the highest in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Singh’s move was prompted by an angry outburst from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who reprimanded district officials for passing the buck to each other over rising cases in the State.
A leave application he wrote on Monday to Chief Secretary R.K. Tiwari citing “personal reasons” was rejected by the State government, which initiated a departmental inquiry against Mr. Singh and replaced him in Gautam Buddha Nagar with Suhas L.Y., a 2007-batch IAS officer who has served as DM in Prayagraj and Azamgarh.
In the letter, Mr. Singh, who has been in charge of the district for the last three years, said, “In the present scenario when there should be no administrative slackness, I request that some other officer be given the charge.”
Viral video
In a short video that has gone viral, the Chief Minister can be seen telling the officials that due process was not followed in checking the rise in the number of cases that have been linked to the fire security firm whose British auditor allegedly passed on the infection. So far, 23 cases have been found to be linked to the firm.
At one point Mr. Adityanath can be heard shouting, “Apni bakwas band karo (Stop your nonsense).” He said the districts were alerted two months ago but suitable action was not taken to isolate foreign nationals.
Mr. Singh pleaded that he had been working 18 hours a day, but the Chief Minister was apparently in no mood to listen. Sources said Mr. Adityanath also took Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargav to task.
Earlier, the Chief Minister visited Greater Noida to take stock of the situation and relief measures in the district. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to visit Ghaziabad.
To check the flow of migrant workers, the Gautam Buddha Nagar administration has decided to turn the Buddha International Circuit on Yamuna Expressway into a shelter home and quarantine facility. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has been asked to set up the required facilities at the Jaypee Sports City.
On Monday, the district administration sealed the border with Delhi and a flag march was conducted, asking people to remain indoors.
