Our government has completed three years in UP today, sailing through a sea of challenges and opportunities. Today is a historic day when the state chose the nationalist ideology to serve it by bringing BJP to power.
The nationalist government of Uttar Pradesh has been facing the numerous challenges of expectations and aspirations since ages.
The challenges
On one hand, there was a challenge to organize the highly unorganized governance structure while on the other hand there was a challenge to bring the downtrodden, marginalised and poor in the mainstream of society.
From illegal mining to illegal slaughterhouses, the challenge was to save both the state and nature. There was also a challenge to enrich education from basic to higher level.
The challenge was to let the law and order situation take a fresh breath from the prevailing anarchy and Gundaraj with the motto of `Paritranaay Sadhunaam, Vinashaya Cha Dushkratam’.
There was also a challenge to bring a revolutionary change in the entire work culture of the state. The challenge was huge, but the firm determination made it a reality and things actually happened in Uttar Pradesh.
The steps
Our first step was to give `Khadi’ it’s due respect and the next was to strengthen and bring the law and order situation under control. This was also made possible by shutting down the illegal slaughterhouses.
Unnecessary holidays were scrapped and victims of Triple Talaq were given due respect and necessary government help.
The mantra of `Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas’ was made a ground reality by bringing changes in the Madarsa Education system for Muslim students while bringing them into the mainstream of the society and the budget provision was made for the marriage of Muslim girls. The government was successful in eradicating the evils of discrimination based on caste, region and religion.
On the noble path of unity, the journey of development is rather easy and this was visible across the state.
Investment and infrastructure
While the Investors’ Summit brought global investment in UP, the infrastructure development, without creating any regional imbalance, the underdeveloped regions of the state have been given infrastructure development projects like Purvanchal Expressway (340.82 km), Bundelkhand Expressway (296.070 km) and Ganga Expressway (596.00 km) and the work is in progress on a war footing.
Not only new roads are being constructed in this vast state but air connectivity is also in our priority list. It is noteworthy that before the year 2017, only two cities in the state were connected by air connectivity. Our government is working on 12 new airports.
On one hand, the construction work of metro has been expanded in Lucknow, the work is in progress in other cities like Kanpur, Jhansi, Varanasi, Agra, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur.
The Jewar International Airport is a boon to the state and it will lead to the growth and prosperity of NCR. It will not only give enough scope of jobs and employment to millions of people but will also give global recognition to UP.
It is also to be noted that the improved connectivity and better law and order have resulted in an increase of 18.6% in the interest of investors with context to Uttar Pradesh.
It is also noteworthy that as a result of “Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit 2018”, investment proposals worth Rs. 4.68 lakh crores 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 industrialization in the state, the government is going to organize “UP Global Investors Summit 2020”. Today UP is the first choice of big entrepreneurs for investment across the country.
Agriculture
The biggest challenge and priority was to bring smiles on the faces of farmers of Uttar Pradesh who were on verge of committing suicide. Cane farmers were waiting eagerly since ages that someone will solve or at least understand their problems. As soon as BJP came into power, in a short span of 3 years, the government many issues have been resolved.
A system has been developed to resolve the problems related to payments that were pending since 2010-11. The collaboration of empathy towards the cane farmers and the execution of the plan that helped in waiving the pending payment dues of more than ₹92 thousand crores.
Uttar Pradesh stood first in sugarcane and sugar production in the country for the second time in a row. The sugarcane sector alone has seen record payments worth ₹92 thousand crores made to the farmers. Expansion and crushing capacity of Munderwa, Pipraich and Ramala sugar mills has been increased and the capacity of 11 sugar mills was expanded.
For the first time in 25 years, licenses of 105 new Khandasari units were approved, which led to 27,850 T.C.D. of additional crushing capacity. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh has become the largest ethanol supplier in the country. Not only this, but six dozen mills of the state are also producing two thousand megawatts of energy, due to which this industry is also becoming self-sufficient in the energy sector.
Two-thirds of the state’s population depends on agriculture-based income. Working on the target of Hon. Prime Minister’s resolution to double the income of the farmers by the year 2022, the State Government has implemented several schemes. For the same, the state government prepared soil health cards of more than 4 crore farmers.
Thousands of farmers have been provided 40 to 90% subsidy through a custom hiring centre for purchasing agricultural machinery, this amount has been transferred directly to the farmers’ account through DBT.
It is noteworthy that through “The Millions Farmers’ Schools”, farmers have been given training in improved farming at the Nyaya Panchayat level. 14 new Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been established in the state. Six new science centres are proposed. Minimum Support Price which was made a far-fetched dream in previous governments has been implemented and farmers have been given benefit at the grass-root level for pulses and oilseeds along with wheat and paddy.
So far, under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana, Rs 12 thousand crores have been sent directly to the accounts of farmers. The farmers’ loan of Rs. 36 thousand crore has been waived off by our government and we have fulfilled the promises made to the farmers.
Irrigation and water conservation
The plan to benefit 50 lakh farmers by irrigation of 18 lakh hectares of additional land in this financial year through projects like Arjun Sahayak, Bhavani and Bandai Dam projects in Bundelkhand region and Saryu Canal, Madhya Ganga Canal, Uttar Pradesh Water Sector Restructuring etc. in the plains areas are going to be implemented.
In Bundelkhand, more than 8 thousand new ponds have been built on private land under the ‘Khet Talab’ scheme. This year, six thousand new local ponds will be constructed. The Aami River in Gorakhpur, the Odi River in Lalitpur, the Gomti River in Pilibhit and Tamsa in Ayodhya have been revived.
In continuation of the same, the pious Ganga Yatra, a journey from faith to economy, was the invocation of farmers and revival of rivers. Under the Namami Gange project, Sisamau drain in Kanpur, which released 14 crore litres of sewer into the holy Ganga daily, has been closed. This has greatly reduced the pollution level in the Ganga in Kanpur. The far-reaching results of the work done by the state government for water conservation on the Ganga and its tributaries will be seen in the future. Not only will the rivers be clean, but farmers will get abundant pollution-free irrigation water, which will definitely increase their income.
Healthcare
In order to let the health department recover from the virus of ‘mismanagement’, it was necessary to provide a “Prana Vayu” of good governance.
It is interesting to know here that for the last 76 years after the country became independent, only 12 medical colleges existed in the state.
Thereafter, we established 7 new medical colleges and started MBBS classes in them in just 3 years for easy, well organized and resourceful medical facilities. We laid the foundation stone of 8 new medical colleges. Along with this, approval was also received from the central government for the establishment of 13 new medical colleges. In this way, Uttar Pradesh will get the services of 28 medical colleges. Not only this, 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 for four decades in eastern UP, the number of encephalitis patients which was known as epidemics in children, has decreased by 56% and encephalitis death has decreased by 90%. The public’s faith in the government medical system at government hospitals of the state has increased. People have started visiting government hospitals again.
We have started organizing “Mukhyamantri Arogya Mela” at every Primary Health Centre for active and enhanced medical services as a more constructive experiment to make the state healthy.
Since February 2, lakhs of people have received free medical facilities in these health fairs. Today, our health department is fully prepared to deal with any emergency like Corona Virus infection in the state. From launching awareness campaigns to the setting up of isolation wards, from the blockade of border areas to the installation of thermal analyzers, no effort has been spared.
Education
A society can move on the path of development only because of education. So first of all, we freed education from the clutches of cheating mafias. Through “Operation Kayakalp”, basic facilities like boundary wall, toilets, drinking water, electrification are being provided in more than 92 thousand primary schools. In these schools, 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, but 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 kids.
The Vantangia, Kol, Mushar and Tharu tribes, which have been marginalized for centuries, were brought into the mainstream of the society and we declared all their villages as revenue villages and covered them with all the public welfare schemes run by the government. They got the right to vote for the first time since independence.
Women Empowerment
Our government has also done a better job for women empowerment. Under the Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojana, more than 01 lakh poor girls were benefited through a grant of Rs 51 thousand per beneficiary. Effective action was taken against the miscreants by establishing ‘anti-Romeo squad’. Good work has been done in the state under Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign. “Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana” was also implemented. The result of the effective implementation of programmes of Health Department and Women Welfare Department is that the sex ratio has improved significantly in various districts of the state. There has been a considerable increase in the number of beneficiaries in the Nirashrit Mahila Pension Yojana. Women battalions are being established in Lucknow, Badaun and Gorakhpur. “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 in these buses.
Law and order
On the law and order front, we inherited a helpless police force. 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 imprisoned. For better policing, 41 new police stations, 13 new check posts were established in the state. 1.7 lakh police personnel were recruited. Police Commissioner system was implemented in Lucknow and Gautam Budh Nagar.
By adopting a policy of zero tolerance towards crime and corruption, the police system was immensely improved. Crime figures have dropped to a considerable extent. While the dacoity cases decreased by 59.70% in the year 2019 as compared to 2016, there was a decrease of 47.09% in murder cases in the same period.
Due to effective measures taken by the administration and the police, no incidents 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 the law and order, but this too was later effectively controlled. After identifying the miscreants, the damages done by them on the property was recovered from them, and this effort of the government also gained widespread support throughout the country. The Punjab and Haryana High Court appreciated the better law and order in the state and said that stringent law should be enforced against criminals on the lines of UP. This was a major blow to the miscreants and their leaders.
Other achievements
It is only because of efficient planning and disciplined system that the rate of per capita income is continuously increasing in the state. While the per capita income in 2014-15 was ₹ 42,267, it has currently increased to ₹ 70,419. It is the achievement of our transparent system that the government jobs provided by the state government to 03 lakh people in the last three years are dispute free.
It is a matter of personal satisfaction for me that in these three years the state has reached the top in the country in many areas. Uttar Pradesh became the first state in the country to implement skill development policy, state health policy and 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 bagged 9 awards in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, 07 in MNREGA, 02 in Rurban Mission, 01 in Livelihood Mission, 01 in Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and 01 in NIRDP.
Within three years, the rate of maternal mortality declined by 30%. The state received the highest award for Nutrition Month. 14 municipal bodies of the state were honored in the cleanliness survey and received the Krishi Karman Award for highest oilseed production. It was commended to implement an innovative experiment like the Million Farmers’ School (Kisan Pathshala) scheme in the country and abroad, while ‘one district-one product scheme’ was lauded by the Central Government and it was considered good enough to be implemented in every district.
The state also got the Nari Shakti Puraskar for setting up One Stop Center under Women Empowerment, National e-Governance Award for Digital Land System, Saubhagya Yojana Award for more power connectivity, 03 National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The state also ranks first in milk, sugar, sugarcane and food production. The state is also the leader in the establishment and operation of 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 the youth. Uttar Pradesh, with a huge population of 23 crore people, is moving towards becoming a one trillion dollar economy as envisioned by Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, bringing positive productive change.
Our ideological vision which embodies the concept of Rashtrodaya from Antyodaya is relentless in order to satisfy the desire of Awadh, the hope of Purvanchal, the expectation of Bundelkhand and the aspirations of Paschimanchal. The actions being taken by our system under zero tolerance on everyone involved in corruption and malpractices have been successful in conveying the message of “changed system” in the state.
Budget is the financial structure of schemes. For the inclusive development of Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in the country, we have presented a budget of Rs. 5 lakh 12 thousand 860 crores 72 lakh, which is the biggest budget in the history of the state. In this historic budget dedicated to youth, schemes like 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.
It is just the beginning. It is the first step of the resolve to take the holy land of Lord Shri Ram and Shri Krishna to the highest glory with the inspiration of the respected Prime Minister. I am confident that the remaining 2 years will prove to be milestones in the direction of progress, public welfare and democracy.
Yes, on the basis of the fulfilment of the promises made in 2017 elections, the foundation of a new Uttar Pradesh has been laid.
