With the state assembly elections knocking at her doors, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has now turned her attention to the basic needs of the people.
Presiding over a day-long review meeting of several key departments in Lucknow on Friday, Mayawati sounded a stern warning to the state bureaucracy to either deliver or face her music.
Simple things like issue of income certificates for which 'babus' at local district collectorates make commoner do umpteen rounds, to renewal of health insurance cards, issue of credit cards to farmers and timely repair of power transformers to ensure availability of electricity and availability of health services remained on top of her agenda at the meeting attended by UP Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Anoop Misra as well as all principal secretaries and heads of departments.
The chief minister sought to make it loud and clear to all and sundry that officials down the line to the grassroots level be told to pull up their socks.
"Ensure proper implementation of the 'Janhit Guarantee Kanoon' , which entitles delivery of various public services within a specified period of time, or else be ready to shell out the monetary fine prescribed for default," she told the gathering.
While directing all district-level officials to be present in their offices and make themselves freely available to common people between 10 am and 12 noon on all weekdays, she also issued directives for asking all complainants to put their mobile numbers on their complaints.
"These complaints would have to be necessarily put on the official website of the concerned office, together with the mobile numbers of the complainants, so that cross-checking of the progress could be done by senior officials at the government-level," the chief minister declared.
"Serious action would follow against officials failing to ensure delivery within the timeframe prescribed under the 'Janhit Guarantee Kanoon', which was essentially meant to make the administration more responsive to the needs of the people", she added.
Mayawati also showed keen interest in ensuring timely repair of roads, and appropriate availability of fertilizer to the farmers.
The chief minister directed the officials to ensure timely relief to the flood-affected people of the state, besides getting rehabilitation and rescue works completed on time.
She directed the officers "to complete repair of all concrete roads, link roads, community centres and solar lights in Ambedkar villages by the end of November at all costs."
