Lucknownama

Health minister left in cold
It was a cold war,the outcome of which anyone could predict. The dramatis personae were Babu Singh Kushwaha,Minister for Family Welfare,and his Cabinet colleague Anant Mishra,Health Minister. Kushwaha was responsible for the execution of schemes under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM),but the utilisation of the budget was in the control of the chief medical officers who,in turn,were under Mishra’s control. This had led to the cold war. From the beginning,it was an unfair fight. For,Kushwaha is not just Family Welfare Minister,but also a trusted man of Chief Minister Mayawati. Only recently,Kushwaha had summoned Principal Secretary (Health) Pradeep Shukla and asked him to prepare a Cabinet proposal,suggesting that instead of the CMO,the deputy CMO in each district will look after the execution of the NRHM schemes and he will be under the administrative control of the Family Welfare department. The Cabinet note was prepared,approved by circulation and a government order was issued. Mishra learnt of the development after the deed was done.

Heading BSP’s ‘Thakur zones’
Last week,BSP chief Mayawati divided the state into nine zones for the mobilisation of Thakurs and gave the charge for each to a Thakur leader. The name of party’s Jaunpur MP Dhananjay Singh,however,did not figure in this list. In a rally on March 15,Mayawati had announced that Dhananjay would be given the responsibility of mobilising the Thakurs for the party. Dhananjay’s supporters hope that he still has this responsibility and that the nine zonal heads work under him. But,in the absence of any such official announcement from the party,that seems nothing more than wishful thinking. Accused of setting Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s house on fire,MLA Jitendra Singh Bablu is also among the nine zonal heads as he has been given the responsibility of Devipatan and Faizabad zones. BSP sources also said he has been asked to start preparations to contest the Lok Sabha election from Faizabad in 2014.

IPS officer gets Ghazipur top job,but why?
Ghazipur,often seen as a base of hardened criminals,will for the first time be administered by an IPS officer. On Saturday,Shalabh Mathur,a 2006-batch IPS officer,became SP (City) Ghazipur — a post that till now was given to officers from the provincial police service. Ghazipur SP (City) is supposed to handle 11 police stations,of which only the Kotwali police station falls in the jurisdiction of Ghazipur city,while 10 others are located in rural areas. Yet,the post is christened SP (City). But,why has the government chosen a young IPS officer for the job?