A day after Chief Minister Mayawati issued instructions for observing austerity in her government, a jumbo team of over 150 officials left for Delhi in connection with a meeting of the Planning Commission for the approval of the state’s annual plan for the current year on Thursday.

Headed by Chief Secretary Atul Gupta, the team includes over three dozen secretaries, principal secretaries, special secretaries and head of departments, besides officials of several departments. The secretaries, principal secretaries and HODs went by air, while the lesser mortals are travelling by train.

The meeting on October 15 will be the second; the earlier meeting was held on August 18. Another meeting was scheduled for September 8, but was cancelled by the Planning Commission at the eleventh hour for lack of preparation by the state government team.

This is the first time such a huge team of state officials is going for the discussion on the state plan. An official of the state’s Planning Department said that usually, the chief minister, accompanied by six or seven key officers, attend the meeting with the Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman to discuss the size and details of the annual plan. This meeting is usually followed by a meeting of the working groups of the state, representing various sectors of the economy and departments, with the Commission for giving final touches to the plan.

However, Chief Minister Mayawati discontinued the practice of personally attending the meeting. Following this, the Planning Commission also scaled down the protocol. Now, UP officials hold the discussion with the B K Chaturvedi, one of the members of Planning Commission.

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