Annoyed with the dressing down from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), BN Singh, shot off a letter to Chief Secretary RK Tiwari, demanding a three-month leave, saying that he be relieved of his charge with immediate effect.
During his visit to Noida on Monday, the chief minister was annoyed by the laxity of district officials leading to rise in COVID-19 patients in Noida.
Once the video showing Yogi scolding the district magistrate was aired by news channels, Singh decided to go on long leave.
In the video, the chief minister was seen angrily telling district official that due to their laxity, the situation was so bad in Noida.
During the meeting, Singh reportedly told the chief minister that he had been working for 18-19 hours on a daily basis but now questions were being raised on his functioning.
The chief minister was annoyed at no action being taken against Cease Fire company (selling fire extinguishers) in Noida, where 31 people were infected with coronavirus. Earlier, a British national working for the company had visited the Noida factory premises and stayed there for some days and when he returned to London, he tested positive for COVID-19.
“You should have closed the factory immediately after the first case but your laxity led to such spread of the virus,” the chief minister said.
After the meeting, Singh sent the letter to the chief secretary, demanding that he be relieved with immediate effect.
The letter said, “For personal reason I don’t want to continue as the DM of Gautam Buddha Nagar. Please sanction me three months’ leave”.
He also said that a new district magistrate be appointed immediately in the district so that government action to control coronavirus was not hampered.
The chief minister would be going to Ghaziabad, Meerut and Agra on Tuesday.