Who is the most powerful functionary in the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy?
Obvious answer should be the Chief Secretary of the state. No. The most
influential civil servant in Uttar Pradesh is the Panchayat Secretary of a
District. He is the nerve centre of the villages in his/her district. The State
has about one lakh villages. As per the Government scheme to feed the poorest,
nearly 500 below poverty line (BPL) villagers in each village are being
provided daily rations like rice, wheat, kerosene, sugar and salt. Sources
disclosed that State politicians and civil servants are running the biggest
mafia in the Public Distribution System. The modus operandi is simple: the
wholesale distributor just allocates half the ration to the village supplier
and the latter distributes half the sanctioned limit. The rest is sold in the
open market at little lower than market prices. The village Pradhan has nothing
to do with the distribution of the ration as the State Government has appointed
private agencies in the villages. At a conservative calculation of one lakh
villages and 500 people in each, every day 5 crore people are fed by the State
and even if one rupee is siphoned each day per person, it comes to Rs. 18,000
crore each year. The villagers are still starving. Will anybody wake up in
Uttar Pradesh!
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