The move comes in the wake of complaints over poor execution of works under a scheme aimed at providing piped water to every rural household. Officials called it one of the largest crackdowns on state water company personnel in recent years.
According to the statement, Additional Chief Secretary (Rural Water Supply) Anurag Srivastava ordered the suspension of 12 engineers of different ranks.
These engineers include: Avinash Gupta (Lakhimpur Kheri), Soumitra Srivastava (Jaunpur), Mohd Qasim Hashmi (Ghazipur), Amit Rajput (Chandauli), Sitaram Yadav (Chandauli), Akbar Hasan (Bijnor), Anurag Goyal (Auraiya), Kuldeep Kumar Singh (Hathras), Rajendra Kumar Yadav (Azamgarh), Roop Chandra (Bareilly), Avneesh Pratap Singh (Barabanki) and Dharm Prakash Maheshwari. (Kushinagar).
The government has also ordered a departmental inquiry against four engineers, while show-cause notices have been issued to three others over slow progress in project execution. Additionally, seven engineers have been transferred due to complaints related to various schemes.
Srivastava said the government is working in mission mode to ensure piped water supply to every rural household and any negligence in this regard will not be tolerated.
He warned that if officers failed to improve their performance, severe action could be taken, including dismissal.
The move comes in the backdrop of controversy on January 30 when Jal Shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh’s convoy was intercepted by BJP MP Brijbhushan Rajput at Charkhari in Mahoba over complaints that roads were not being repaired after completion of pipeline work under the scheme, leading to a heated exchange between the two.
The controversy involving ruling party MLAs and ministers has attracted attention and the BJP has also taken notice of it.