Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for the Jal Shakti department, Dinesh Khatik, on Tuesday, offered to resign alleging that officials do not listen to him as he is a Dalit.

“Being an MoS from the Dalit community in the department, none of my orders is followed nor am I informed of any meeting,” Khatik alleged in his resignation letter, which was widely shared on social media. “I am not informed of any scheme launched by the department or about their progress. Despite being a minister I have no solid information about my department.”

Khatik, a two-time MLA, was made a minister of state for the Jal Shakti department in September, according to the Hindustan Times.

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In his resignation letter, which was addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Khatik also alleged corruption and irregularities related to the transfer of officials in the department.

“Keeping Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s zero tolerance to corruption in mind, on July 9, I sought details [from government officials] about the transfers made in the department in 2022-23, but that too was not provided to me,” the minister said in his letter. “When I sought clarification, my phone was bluntly disconnected midway through the conversation and this is a big insult of an elected public representative.”

He also alleged that there was widespread corruption in the Namami Gange scheme, which was announced in 2014 to control the pollution in the Ganga river. “My charges can be independently investigated by any agency,” Khatik said.

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However, on Tuesday, when asked about his resignation letter, Khatik refused to comment. “There is no issue,” he told mediapersons in Meerut, according to PTI.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav urged Khatik to resign from his post.

“Where there is no respect in being a minister and disrespect for being a Dalit, in such a situation to ensure respect of one’s community, the better and logical thing to do is to resign,” Yadav wrote in a tweet. “At times the bulldozer does move backwards too.”