Lucknow: In a significant development, a meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) was conducted in Delhi to promote Uttar Pradesh’s 2008 and 2010 batch PCS officers to the IAS cadre. The meeting, attended by key officials from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Central Government, and senior UP state officers, including Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Chief Minister’s Additional Chief Secretary SP Goyal, saw discussions regarding the promotion of 27 PCS officers.
The number of promotions is capped at 27 due to the number of vacant IAS posts in Uttar Pradesh. If no investigations hinder the process, the majority of the 2008 batch and some from the 2010 batch will be promoted in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the Central Government has sanctioned a reimbursement of Rs 236.31 crore to Uttar Pradesh’s Home Guard Department. This allocation addresses the long-standing pending reimbursements covering 25% of total expenditures, including duty allowances, salaries, and uniforms for Home Guard volunteers, and 50% of expenses incurred during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections from 2011 to 2021. This reimbursement comes after years of continuous efforts by the Home Guard Department to secure the pending funds.
In another development, protests continue in Uttar Pradesh against the privatization of the electricity sector. The Vidyut Karamchari Joint Sangharsh Samiti organized demonstrations across various districts, questioning the need for privatization in the face of improving power systems. The Samiti members highlighted that the AT&C losses in UP have reduced significantly from 40% in 2017 to 16.5% by March 2024, bringing it closer to the national standard of 15%. As part of the protest, a large rally will be held in Lucknow on April 9, where electricity workers will continue to voice their opposition to the privatization move.
