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Questions Raised on Yogi Government’s Zero-Tolerance Policy Amid Corruption Claims
ANYTIME NEWS NETWORK | Pooja Srivastava
While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is working tirelessly to establish Uttar Pradesh as a premier global wellness destination, a faction within the Ayush Department under his own administration is openly flouting the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy. Recently, CM Yogi Adityanath chaired a high-level meeting at his official residence to review the functioning of the Ayush Department and issued strict directives for the effective implementation of the ‘Ayush Health and Wellness Policy-2026’. However, the irony is stark: while the Chief Minister is blueprinting a massive expansion of employment and investment by blending UP’s spiritual-cultural heritage with the Ayush sector, deep-rooted corruption within the Unani Department is threatening to tarnish these grand achievements.
Grand Visions of CM vs. Ground Realities
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s vision extends far beyond transforming Uttar Pradesh into a merely cure-based medical system. He aims to integrate major religious circuits like Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Mathura into the Ayush wellness sector, transforming them into unprecedented healing hubs. The review meeting approved a phased roadmap to establish modern Ayush wellness centers, 100-bed integrated hospitals, and upgraded training institutes through the PPP model. To attract investors, lucrative provisions like single-window clearances and stamp duty exemptions have been introduced.
However, running parallel to this magnificent public welfare vision is the dark reality of the Unani Department, which is dampening the government’s intentions. The ongoing nexus right under the nose of the Directorate of Unani Services proves that despite the Chief Minister’s strictness, bureaucratic collusion and personal fiefdoms persist at the lower levels.
The Unani Department Helpless Against Clerk Iqbal Ahmed Siddiqui’s Dominance
The recent revelations by Dr. Shakeel Ahmad, a member of the Unani Board, have triggered a massive uproar regarding the institutionalized corruption within the department. Emerging as the prime face of the department’s failure and arbitrary functioning is Clerk Iqbal Ahmed Siddiqui (Mohammad Iqbal). Allegations state that throwing the UP government’s transparent transfer policy completely out the window, this clerk has remained entrenched in the exact same seat for the last 30 years.
Whispers in the departmental corridors suggest that everything—from transfer policies to research projects and the movement of administrative files—is dictated by this single clerk. Over this long span of three decades, Iqbal Ahmed Siddiqui has built a powerful syndicate that manipulates decisions behind the scenes. While the Chief Minister champions transparency, this lower-level clerk is dominating the system and severely damaging the government’s clean image.
Loot in the Name of Research and Crores in Blocked Projects
The collusion between this clerk and senior departmental officials has resulted in a sensational claim of financial irregularities and an alleged ‘loot’ of approximately ₹11.65 lakh under the guise of research projects. Furthermore, the Government Unani Medical College and Hospital in Bareilly, built at a cost of crores of rupees, is currently languishing due to departmental failure and the whims of this syndicate. Despite being inaugurated at the Chief Minister’s level, OPD and hospital services were deliberately halted, pushing this multi-crore government asset to the brink of collapse.
