Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath. (File Photo) Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath. (File Photo)

Three years of trust, development and good governance have transformed Uttar Pradesh from being one of the laggard states to one with a new model of development, which bears the responsibility to change the lives of 23 crore people and play a leadership role in remoulding the Indian economy.

Our biggest challenge was to revive the faith in law and order amid the prevailing anarchy and goonda raj. Our motto, “Paritranaay Sadhunaam, Vinashaya Cha Dushkratam”, was acted on so that the public can breath easy along with investors, which would help usher another industrial revolution in the state, eventually propelling UP a $1 trillion economy. The first step was to bring the law and order situation under control, tighten the noose around illegal mining, land mafia and shut down the unauthorised slaughterhouses polluting our rivers.

Unnecessary government holidays were scrapped and victims of triple Talak were given due respect and necessary government help.

Opinion | Under Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh is making a break from its past

The mantra of “sabka saath sabka vikas and sabka vishwas” was made a ground reality by bringing changes in the madrasa education system, bringing Muslim students to the mainstream of the society.

The Investors’ Summit brought global investment and infrastructure development to UP, without creating a regional imbalance. Underdeveloped regions were given infrastructure development projects such as the Purvanchal Expressway (340.82 km), Bundelkhand Expressway (296.070 km) and Ganga Expressway (596.00 km). It is noteworthy that before 2017, only two cities in the state were connected to the air grid. Our government has added seven cities to the air grid in the past three years and is working on building 12 new airports

It is noteworthy that before 2017, only two cities in the state were connected to air gird. Our government has added seven cities to the air grid in the past three years and is working on 12 new airports.The work to initiate construction work of metro is in progress in other cities like Kanpur and Agra. The Jewar International Airport is a boon to the state and will act as a catalyst in transforming the fortunes of NCR. It will not only provide enough scope of jobs and employment to millions of people but will also give global recognition to UP.

It is also noteworthy that as a result of the Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit 2018&, investment proposals worth Rs 4.68 lakh crore have been received out of which 371 projects have been implemented.

All these will generate more than 33 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities. In order to speed up the pace of industrialisation in the state, the government is going to organize the UP Global Investors Summit 2020. Today, UP is the first choice of big entrepreneurs for investment.

The biggest challenge and priority for the state government was to bring smiles on the faces of farmers. A system has been developed to resolve the problems related to payments that were lingering since 2010-11.

UP stood second in sugarcane and sugar production in the country for the second time in a row. A record payment for sugarcane worth Rs 92,000 crore has been made to the farmers. New units were added, leading to the expansion of capacity of the Munderwa, Pipraich and Ramala sugar mills.

For the first time in 25 years, licences for 105 new Khandsari units were approved, which led to an increase of 27,850 T.C.D. crushing capacity. Two-thirds of the state’s population has an agriculture-based income. Working on the target set by the prime ,inister to double income of the farmer by the year 2022, the state government has implemented several schemes.

Soil health cards were provided to crores of farmers by the state government. Thousands of farmers have been provided 40 to 90 per cent subsidy through a custom hiring centre for purchasing agricultural machinery — this amount has been transferred directly to the farmers’ bank accounts.

It is noteworthy that through “The Millions Farmers’ Schools”, farmers have been given training in improved farming at the Nyaya Panchayat level. Fourteen new Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been established in the state. Six new science centres are proposed. The minimum support price, which was a far-fetched dream during previous governments, has been implemented and farmers have been given benefits at the grassroots for pulses and oilseeds along with wheat and paddy. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Rs 12,000 have been sent directly to the accounts of farmers. Farmers’ loans worth Rs 36,000 crore have been waived.

In Bundelkhand region, we have initiated a plethora of irrigation projects to benefit 50 lakh farmers by irrigation of 18 lakh hectares of additional land in this financial year. To underline this point, Bansagar Irrigation Project, which was pending since decades was completed and dedicated to the farmers of the region. Projects like Arjun Sahayak, Bhavani and Bandai Dam projects and Saryu Canal, Madhya Ganga Canal, Uttar Pradesh Water Sector Restructuring etc. in the plains areas would further bring prosperity to the region. In Bundelkhand, more than 8,000 ponds have been constructed on private land under the ‘Khet Talab’ scheme. This year, 6,000 new local ponds will be constructed. The Aami River in Gorakhpur, the Odi River in Lalitpur, the Gomti River in Ayodhya and Ganda river in Pilibhit have been revived.

The pious Ganga-yatra was a journey from faith to the economy, the invocation of farmers and rivers was the same. Under the Namami Gange project, the Sisamau Sewer point in Kanpur, which used to be a point of flow for 14 crore litres of sewage into the holy Ganga daily, has been closed, greatly reducing the pollution in the river.

It is interesting to know here that for the last 76 years after the country got independence, only 12 medical colleges existed in the state. We established seven new medical colleges and started MBBS classes in them in just three years. We also laid the foundation stone for eight new medical colleges. Along with this, approval was also received from the central government for the establishment of 13 new medical colleges. UP will soon get the services of 28 medical colleges. AIIMS are coming up in Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli as well.

It is the result of the improvement of health services and the activities under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that the number of encephalitis patients — an epidemic in children since the past four decades — has decreased by 56 per cent and the number of deaths has fallen by 90 per cent.

A society can move on the path of development only because of education. To realise the full potential of our youth, we freed education from the clutches of cheating mafias. Through “Operation Kayakalp”, basic facilities like boundary wall, toilets, drinking water, electrification are being done in more than 92 thousand primary schools.

As many as 45,383 teachers have been recruited and the recruitment of 69,000 teachers is in the last phase. Similarly, 55 new government inter colleges have also been approved in secondary education. Not only this, the process to set up Atal Residential Schools have been expedited in every Circle Headquarters in order to spread the light of knowledge in the lives of children of labourers and deprived.

Women battalions of PAC are being established in Lucknow, Badaun and Gorakhpur. A “Pink Bus Service” has been started. In these buses, security personnel along with women conductors are being deployed and CCTV cameras are also being installed.

On the law and order front, we inherited a helpless police. The places that should have been “safe zones” were the “safari zones” of criminals. Our government tried hard to bring the law and order back on track. As a result, today either the criminals are fleeing the state or are in prison.

For better policing, 41 new police stations and 13 new check posts were established in the state and 1.37 lakh police personnel were recruited. The police commissioner system has been implemented in Lucknow and Gautam Budh Nagar. While dacoity cases decreased by 59.70 per cent in 2019 as compared to 2016, there was a decrease of 47.09 per cent in murder cases in the same period.

By adopting a policy of zero tolerance towards crime and corruption, the police system has been immensely improved. Crime figures have dropped to a considerable extent. While dacoity cases decreased by 59.70 percent in the year 2019 as compared to 2016, there was a decrease of 47.09 percent in murder cases in the same period.

Due to effective measures taken by the administration and the police, no incident of violence was reported at the time of the order for the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir and at the time of the verdict on Sri Ram Janmabhoomi dispute in Ayodhya. In opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act, some anti-social elements unsuccessfully tried to disturb law and order, but this too was effectively controlled. After identifying the miscreants, the cost of damages caused to public property is being recovered from them.

This efforts of the UP government received widespread support and popularity throughout the country. The Punjab and Haryana High Court also appreciated the better law and order in the state and said that stringent law should be enforced against criminals on the lines of UP.

It is the achievement of our transparent system that the government jobs provided by the state government to three lakh people in the last three years are dispute and corruption free.

It is a matter of personal satisfaction for me that in these three years, UP has reached the top in the country in many areas. UP became the first state to implement a skill development policy and a health policy and to declare human-wildlife conflict a disaster.It also secured the first place in the country by winning the top award for making the most purchases under e-market (Gem). It also bagged nine awards in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, seven in MNREGA, two in Urban Mission, one each in Livelihood Mission, Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and NIRDP. Within three years, the maternal mortality rate declined by 30 percent. The state received the highest award for Nutrition Month. Fourteen bodies of the state were honoured in the cleanliness survey and received the Krishi Karman Award for highest oilseed production.

The state also ranks first in milk, sugar, sugarcane and food production. The state is also the leader in the establishment and operation of the most medical institutions in the country. These awards encourage us to innovate constantly. Because of these, the state is gaining the identity of a developed state.

We are committed to the welfare of all, including the village, the poor, farmers, women, labourers, and youth. For the inclusive development of UP, we have presented a budget of over Rs 5 lakh crore, the biggest budget in the history of the state. In this historic budget dedicated to youth, schemes like the Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme and Youth Entrepreneurship Development Campaign (YUVA) will prove to be milestones in the field of self-employment and self-reliance.

This is just a beginning. These are the first steps to take the holy land of Prabhu Shri Ram and Lord Shri Krishna to the highest glory with the inspiration of the prime minister. I am confident that the remaining two years of our government will prove to be milestones in the direction of progress, public welfare and democracy.

This article first appeared in the print edition on March 18, 2020 under the title “On the way UP”. The writer is chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

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