Replace Azam as in-charge minister of Muzaffarnagar: Sanjeev Balyan

DPC is chaired by in-charge minister who finalises various development programmes to be done in the district. The approved plan is sent to state government for sanctioning of funds. All public representatives including local MP, MLA and MLCs are ex-officio members of the DPC and attend it while it is chaired by in-charge minister. For Muzaffarnagar, Azam Khan holds the post of in-charge minister.

“Azam Khan is afraid of coming to Muzaffarnagar as he had suspicious role in riots. First, the district was derailed due to the riots and now he wants to further damage it in development. It is better if he is changed by the CM,” Balyan told The Indian Express.

“I am requesting CM to change the in-charge minister. I will write to the CM also as Azam has no interest in development of the district,” Balyan said. He said that due to DPC not being held, Muzaffarnagar’s annual development works have come to stand still. “There is no fund for roads while it is the season for transporting sugarcane. There are no funds for irrigation projects. No work has been done for past eight months,” he said. He also claimed that even if DPC is held now, it will be too late to complete the work in the remaining four months.

Balyan claimed that Azam has developed apathy towards Muzaffarnagar. “I wrote to Azam Khan for a defunct Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Muzaffarnagar. The local municipal corporation is paying Rs 85 lakh annually to the contractor, but the STP is lying closed due to no clearance from pollution control board. I wrote to Azam for an enquiry but he did not have the courtesy to even send an acknowledgement of my letter,” Balyan stated.

On the state of affairs in state government, Balyan said that he personally called up pollution control board office at Lucknow but was told to contact the chairman or minister Azam Khan. “Now, what else can I do in this matter when Azam has no interest in development of our district. I want to keep aside political differences, but there is no response from his side,” he added.