3 officials suspended after citizen complaints reach Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav’s ear

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday launched a statewide public outreach programme from Chhindwara while once again relying on a tactic that has become a recurring feature of his administration — publicly acting against officials during field visits. During the launch of the Mukhyamantri Jan Vishwas Abhiyan, Yadav suspended Chhindwara’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Naresh Gunnade, a tehsildar and a patwari after hearing complaints from citizens.Since taking office in December 2023, Yadav has repeatedly conducted surprise inspections, reviewed government offices on the spot and ordered suspensions or transfers of officials during public programmes. Friday’s launch institutionalises that approach by requiring ministers and district officials to spend every Friday in the field instead of attending routine review meetings. The decision also comes at a time when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking to consolidate its administrative credentials midway through its term. Chhindwara, the bastion of former Congress CM Kamal Nath until the BJP’s breakthrough in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, provides a politically significant backdrop for launching a campaign aimed at projecting a government that is accessible and responsive to complaints. ‘No meeting day’ Announcing the initiative, Yadav said that every Friday would be observed as a “No Meeting Day”, with ministers, MLAs, collectors and commissioners holding public hearings from the district to the tehsil level. He said feedback collected during the campaign would shape future government policies and improve delivery of welfare schemes. The campaign also serves an administrative purpose: Senior officials have privately acknowledged that routine review meetings often generate compliance reports but fail to capture local grievances. By mandating field visits, the government hopes to reduce the gap between policy decisions in Bhopal and implementation on the ground, while making district administrations directly accountable to citizens, they added. Unlike his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whose political brand revolved around welfare schemes and emotional connect with beneficiaries, Yadav has increasingly sought to build his image around an assertive administrator who rewards performance and publicly penalises perceived administrative failures.Story continues below this ad Over the past year, he has repeatedly acted against senior officials following inspections and public complaints, using disciplinary action both as an administrative tool and as a political signal that the government is willing to hold its own bureaucracy publicly accountable. In March, an unannounced visit to Sidhi resulted in the removal of the district collector and the suspension of the district cooperative bank’s general manager following complaints from citizens. Around the same time, he also removed the Guna Superintendent of Police over alleged administrative irregularities. Anand Mohan J is an award-winning Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, currently leading the bureau’s coverage of Madhya Pradesh. With a career spanning over eight years, he has established himself as a trusted voice at the intersection of law, internal security, and public policy. Based in Bhopal, Anand is widely recognized for his authoritative reporting on Maoist insurgency in Central India. In late 2025, he provided exclusive, ground-level coverage of the historic surrender of the final Maoist cadres in Madhya Pradesh, detailing the backchannel negotiations and the "vacuum of command" that led to the state being declared Maoist-free. Expertise and Reporting Beats Anand’s investigative work is characterized by a "Journalism of Courage" approach, holding institutions accountable through deep-dive analysis of several key sectors: National Security & Counter-Insurgency: He is a primary chronicler of the decline of Naxalism in the Central Indi