“Namaz at Hanumangarhi betrays Ayodhya’s soul,” thunders CM Yogi
Lucknow, July 14: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that those for whom the nation is not supreme, are continuously attacking the nation’s identity and faith. In the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple case, at the request of the Trust, the SIT is conducting an impartial investigation, and strict action is being taken against the accused. Resignations have also been made on moral grounds. However, those who are trying to tamper with faith and attack Hindu shrines under the guise of this unfortunate incident are the same people who robbed the rights of the poor and made despicable attempts to force people to offer namaz at a sacred site like Hanumangarhi.
Chief Minister appealed to the public to remain vigilant against such forces that undermine national values.
The Chief Minister was addressing a private news channel’s special conclave, “UP on Heights,” in Lucknow on Tuesday. On this occasion, he highlighted the revolutionary changes and achievements that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh over the past nine years.
He said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the determination of the double-engine government, Uttar Pradesh has today emerged from the category of “BIMARU” states and joined the top three economies in the country.
Chief Minister said that before 2017, there were riots every third day in UP, and curfews lasted for months. Daughters and businessmen were not safe. There were more than 35 districts where people sent their daughters to hostels or relatives’ homes outside UP for their education. Others stopped sending their daughters to school altogether for their safety. Businessmen were unsure if they would be able to return home. Farmers were afraid to go to their fields.
Chief Minister said that at that time, every explosion anywhere in the country would bring UP’s name to the Chief Minister’s residence. In previous governments, rioters were invited to the Chief Minister’s residence and honored. Governments bowed down and rubbed their noses before the mafia. This information needs to be imparted to the new generation. However, in the last nine years, our identity has been established as a riot-, curfew-, and disturbance-free Uttar Pradesh. Now, everyone in Uttar Pradesh, including daughters and businessmen, is safe.
Yogi said that if a secure environment had not been created, no investor would have come to Uttar Pradesh. We planned an Investor Summit in October 2017 and formulated a policy for it. As a result, Uttar Pradesh has received investment proposals worth ₹50 lakh crore, of which projects worth over ₹15 lakh crore have been implemented. Before 2017, Lucknow’s Chikankari, Firozabad’s glass, Moradabad’s brass, Meerut’s sports, Bhadohi’s carpet, and Banaras’s saree industries were collapsing. Entrepreneurs and businessmen had no choice but to stay home. When the double-engine government was formed, we branded these industries as “One District, One Product” (ODOP). 79 products from 75 districts have been awarded GI tags. Currently, under ODOP, 9.6 million MSME units are operating in Uttar Pradesh, employing 32 million youth. Today, Uttar Pradesh exports ODOP products worth over ₹2 lakh crore.
Chief Minister stated that UP’s budget has increased from 3 lakh crore rupees to 9 lakh crore rupees. In 2016-17, UP’s total GSDP was 12 lakh crore rupees, which has now reached 36 lakh crore rupees. Per capita income was only 43 thousand rupees then, which now exceeds 1.20 lakh rupees. The female workforce in Uttar Pradesh was only 12 percent, but today it is more than 38 percent. The unemployment rate has dropped from 19 percent to less than 3 percent. This picture presents a new Uttar Pradesh.
Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh now has a 60 percent share of the country’s total expressway network. The Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, and the country’s longest Ganga Expressway have also been inaugurated. The Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway opened on Monday. Whether it is interstate connectivity or district headquarters, all are connected by four-lane roads. Varanasi, the city that will soon be connected with the country’s first inland waterway, rapid rail, and ropeway, is also located in UP. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of airports and metros operating. Uttar Pradesh also has the largest railway network. All of this was only a dream nine years ago.
Chief Minister said that a few days ago, the UP government organized a Mango Festival, where thousands of tons of mangoes were exported. People from all over the world lined up to buy mangoes from Uttar Pradesh. Before 2014, farmers were forced to commit suicide due to lack of facilities. Between 2007 and 2017, 29 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh were closed or sold. The land for the sugar mills, which were sold for Rs. 3 crore each, was worth hundreds of crores of rupees. Our government has paid Rs. 3.23 lakh crore in sugarcane prices to farmers’ accounts since 2017. 122 sugar mills are currently in operation. Uttar Pradesh is number one in sugarcane, sugar, and ethanol production in the country.
Chief Minister said that in the last nine years, 2.4 million hectares of land in Uttar Pradesh have been provided with irrigation facilities. The Bansagar Project, pending for decades, was completed under the Prime Minister’s Agricultural Irrigation Scheme. This provided irrigation facilities to 2.5 lakh hectares of land. The Arjun Sahayak Project in Bundelkhand, pending for decades, was completed. The Saryu Canal National Project was approved by the Planning Commission in the 1970s. Its foundation stone was laid in 1977, but it was never completed. A total of 100 crore rupees were initially planned, but due to delays in completion, 10,000 crore rupees were spent. Farmers are being provided with 100,000 hours of electricity. Over 900,000 youth have been given government jobs in the state. Over 225,000 recruitments have been made in the Uttar Pradesh Police alone. Before 2017, the UP Police had only 10,000 female police personnel, but now the number has increased to 45,000.
Chief Minister said that through welfare schemes in Uttar Pradesh, 16 crore poor families are getting the benefit of free ration. There are 1.6 crore families who are being provided the benefit of an annual pension of Rs 12,000 through destitute women pension, old age pension, or disabled pension. More than 25 lakh women and girls are being given the benefit of the Chief Minister Kanya Sumangala Yojana. More than 5 lakh mothers are being given the benefit of the scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. More than 6 lakh girls have been married under the Chief Minister’s Mass Marriage Scheme. Now the father is not worried about where the money will come from for his daughter’s marriage when she has grown up.
