Officials should keep a check on what they say: Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Taking exception to a controversial remark by senior UP bureaucrat A K Gupta that no child in Muzaffarnagar riot relief camps died of cold, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today asked officials to keep a check on their use of words and ensure nobody's feelings get hurt.

"Use of words by officials or partymen, whether it is about the government's drawbacks or the party's achievements, should be such that nobody's feelings get hurt," he told reporters here.

He was replying to a question on the remark of Principal Secretary (Home) Gupta that no one dies due to cold otherwise people would not have survived in Siberia, one of the world's coldest regions.

Yadav said, "Sometimes, during question-answer sessions, there could be a change in language used....I think officials should keep a control over what they speak."

The Chief Minister said that this was especially so when it came to bureaucrats or party people talking to TV channels which record their byte and show controversial portions repeatedly.

Asked what action would be taken against the Principal Secretary for his irresponsible statement, Yadav said, "Ab ho gaya (It has happened)," while moving on to another question.

Yadav said the government, along with its associates, has tried to put an end to the Muzaffarnagar issue and people should return from the relief camps to their homes. "Many people have already returned to their homes," he said.

Condemning Gupta's comments, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar hit out at the UP government, saying, "When the administration becomes insensitive, this is what then comes out."

He said that instead of accepting the fault and making a correction, the authorities in Uttar Pradesh were blaming others and making most insensitive comments.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticised Gupta for his remark, saying that the bureaucrat should be sent out in the cold with lesser clothes.

"Can't die of the cold!!!! Send him out in a few less clothes and let's see if he isn't singing a different tune pretty damn quick," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.com.