Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti Minister Dinesh Khatik has offered to resign, pointing out corruption in the department and alleging that he is being ignored by officials as he is a Dalit.
Khatik offered to quit in a letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The letter has surfaced on social media.
However, when the media in his native Meerut district sought his reaction, Khatik said, "There is no such issue." Sources close to the minister in Meerut said he has gone to Delhi.
Khatik (44) is a two-time MLA from the Hastinapur seat in Meerut.
Soon after the minister's purported letter surfaced on social media, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "Where there is no honour of being a minister but the humiliation of being a Dalit...Resigning from such a discriminatory BJP government is the only way to maintain the dignity of our society."
In the letter to Shah, Khatik said, "The BJP government has been formed due to the tireless hard work and efficient leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, national president J P Nadda and Amit Shah by taking the Dalits and backwards together.
"Being the Minister of State for Jal Shakti belonging to the Dalit community, no action is taken on any of my orders, nor am I informed about the schemes which are currently being run in the department.
He further wrote, " No information is given by officials due to which the minister of state does not get any concrete information about the department."
In the letter dated July 19, Khatik said, "A lot of corruption has been done in this department in the transfer season. Information related to the transfer of officers was sought by me through a letter, so far the information has not been given."
"When I tried to apprise the Principal Secretary, Irrigation, Anil Garg, about the situation, he disconnected the telephone without listening to me and also ignored my words, which is a great insult to a public representative," he said.
"I am a minister belonging to a Dalit caste that is why so much discrimination is being done against me in this department," Khatik Claimed.
Khatik alleged that his letters remain unanswered and alleged corruption in the Namami Gange scheme.
"This come to light when you go to the ground level and when I make any complaint against any officer, no action is taken on it. If you want, it can also be investigated by any agency," he mentioned.
The minister also alleged that the Dalits are being insulted by officials.
"I belong to the Dalit society which is completely connected to me and it fully expects from me that injustice should not be done to them. When I inform officers about the injustice happening with them, they do not take any action on it due to which not only me but the entire Dalit society is being insulted," he said.
"The rules of the Prime Minister's scheme Namami Gange and Har Ghar Jal Yojana are (also) being ignored. In the name of transfer in my department, money has been wrongly realised. When it came to my notice, I asked the head of the department. No action has been taken by him till now," he said.
"When minister of state belonging to the Dalit society does not have any existence in the department, then in such a situation my work as the minister of state is useless for the Dalit society. Being hurt by all these things, I am resigning from my post," he added.
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