Despite facing barbs on heightened corruption in his rule, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cracked the whip on around 800 state government employees in the last three years, vindicating his commitment to zero tolerance against corruption.

Only this week, the state government suspended two IPS officers — Prayagraj SSP Abhishek Dikshit and Mahoba SP Manilal Patidar — primarily for their involvement in corrupt practices and lax policing.

Besides, panchayati raj officers in Sultanpur and Ghazipur, Krishna Kumar Singh and Anil Kumar Singh respectively, were suspended after it was found they purchased pulse oximeters and infrared thermometers at inflated prices.

A senior official said in Lucknow on Thursday that the government had initiated action against more than 775 state government officials and employees so far. He said even retired officials found complicit in malpractices and corruption were not spared and their pension and retirement benefits were suspended.

As per a government data, around 325 officials were forcibly retired while over 450 were suspended and demoted. However, around 50 state employees were dismissed from services for involvement in corruption and other irregularities. Besides, seven Provincial  Police Services (PPS) officers were also forced to retire from service.

A maximum of 169 employees were suspended in the Energy department, followed by 51 in Home department, 37 in Transport department, 36 in Revenue department, 26 in Primary Education department, 25 in Panchayati Raj department, 18 in PWD, 16 each in Labour and Institutional Finance, Commercial Tax and Entertainment tax departments, 15 in Rural Development department and 11 in Forest department.

Besides, the government gave its nod for starting criminal proceedings against several officers .