Lucknow:
The much-hyped 'Janata Darshan' of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, revived after Samajwadi Party stormed to power in Uttar Pradesh, has turned out to be a damp squib.
The reply to a query posted under Right to Information Act by a local RTI activist, Urvashi Sharma, showed that not a single 'Janata Darshan' (meet-the-people) programme of the chief minister has been held in the last six months.
Since SP came to power in March last year, only seven Janata Darshan programmes were held at 5 Kalidas Marg, the official residence of the chief minister.
Janata Darshan was started when party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister of the state for the first time.
During the programme, the Chief Minister met the people, heard their grievances and directed concerned officials to take action accordingly.
The practice was, however, discontinued during the BSP regime in which Mayawati was the chief minister.
When SP came to power last year, it announced to revive the Janata Darshan programme.
Initially, the Janata Darshan generated good response with large number of people from across the state gathering at the CM's residence to voice their concerns.
Mr Yadav issued specific directives to the officials during every Janata Darshan and a coding system was introduced to mark each and every application.
However, as per the reply to the RTI query, no Janata Darshan programme has been held since November last year.
The RTI activist had sought information regarding date- wise details of Janata Darshan programmes held from March 15 last year to March 14.
She had also sought information regarding number of programmes cancelled during this period, along with details of applications received and number of them disposed off.
In reply to the query, undersecretary to the chief minister, Yogendra Dutt Tripathi said only seven Janata Darshans were held during this period.
Of this, one each was held in April, August, September and November. Maximum number of Janata Darshans were held in May.
No such programme was held since November 7 last year, he said.
Regarding number of applications received and disposed off, the undersecretary said the information was available on the official website of the CMO.
Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh said, "The expectations this government generated among the people after coming to power, it has failed to fulfil even one."
He said in 14 months, only seven Janata Darshans were held whereas it was promised to hold it on regular basis.
"It is not about the Janata Darshan only, the government has cheated on all its promises whether it was unemployment allowance or free laptops. The people are feeling cheated and they will give a befitting reply at the first instance," Mr Singh said.
BJP chief spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the government was confused.
"First the government said Janata Darshan would be held every Wednesday, then it was made a monthly event, and now no programme has been held in the last six months," he said.
The reply to a query posted under Right to Information Act by a local RTI activist, Urvashi Sharma, showed that not a single 'Janata Darshan' (meet-the-people) programme of the chief minister has been held in the last six months.
Since SP came to power in March last year, only seven Janata Darshan programmes were held at 5 Kalidas Marg, the official residence of the chief minister.
Janata Darshan was started when party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister of the state for the first time.
During the programme, the Chief Minister met the people, heard their grievances and directed concerned officials to take action accordingly.
The practice was, however, discontinued during the BSP regime in which Mayawati was the chief minister.
When SP came to power last year, it announced to revive the Janata Darshan programme.
Initially, the Janata Darshan generated good response with large number of people from across the state gathering at the CM's residence to voice their concerns.
Mr Yadav issued specific directives to the officials during every Janata Darshan and a coding system was introduced to mark each and every application.
However, as per the reply to the RTI query, no Janata Darshan programme has been held since November last year.
The RTI activist had sought information regarding date- wise details of Janata Darshan programmes held from March 15 last year to March 14.
She had also sought information regarding number of programmes cancelled during this period, along with details of applications received and number of them disposed off.
In reply to the query, undersecretary to the chief minister, Yogendra Dutt Tripathi said only seven Janata Darshans were held during this period.
Of this, one each was held in April, August, September and November. Maximum number of Janata Darshans were held in May.
No such programme was held since November 7 last year, he said.
Regarding number of applications received and disposed off, the undersecretary said the information was available on the official website of the CMO.
Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh said, "The expectations this government generated among the people after coming to power, it has failed to fulfil even one."
He said in 14 months, only seven Janata Darshans were held whereas it was promised to hold it on regular basis.
"It is not about the Janata Darshan only, the government has cheated on all its promises whether it was unemployment allowance or free laptops. The people are feeling cheated and they will give a befitting reply at the first instance," Mr Singh said.
BJP chief spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the government was confused.
"First the government said Janata Darshan would be held every Wednesday, then it was made a monthly event, and now no programme has been held in the last six months," he said.
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