Yogi cites prevalence of rule of law as one of his biggest achievements

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday described restoration of law and order as one of the biggest achievements of his government.

Speaking on the occasion of completion of four-and-a-half years of his government at a ceremony held at Lok Bhawan, Yogi Adityanath said that if investors were ready to invest in UP today, women felt safer and the benefits of the government schemes reached the poor and the needy, it was because of the prevalence of rule of law in the state, which had been missing from the state for past several years.

“Not a single riot has taken place in the last four-and-a-half years of our government, which had become a routine affair occurring every three-four days between 2012 and 2017,” he remarked.

Taking a dig at previous governments, Yogi pointed out that while his government had handed over 42 lakh houses to the poor in the last four-and-a-half years under the PM Awas Yojana, the previous governments were busy demolishing government buildings and building their own luxury houses. “There was a competition among leaders to build their own luxury houses,” he quipped.

“Transfer and posting of officers had become an industry during the previous governments to make money. Every two-three months officers were transferred. Each post was sold. We stopped this practice. It not only ended corruption in departments, but also brought about stability in governance so that developmental works could be carried out at a rapid pace,” Yogi said.

He said that ending corruption through bringing transparency in government departments’ dealings had been one of his priorities and it had already started yielding positive outcomes.

“A total of 4.5 lakh youths were provided government jobs in the last four-and-a-half years. The recruitment was based completely on merit and in compliance with the reservation rules. There was no foul play with no involvement of middlemen,” he added.

Yogi remarked further: “We cancelled 40 lakh ration cards because its beneficiaries were not poor people and made new ration cards for those who deserved it. As many as 15 crore people got free ration during the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. We have provided insurance cover for three crore migrant workers. All this has been possible because of transparency.”

The chief minister said that while the previous governments were protecting and patronising criminals and dreaded gangsters, his government was taking action against each of them, irrespective of caste or creed. “We are dealing sternly with anti-social elements to create a sense of security among people. We have taken action against a large number of criminals and gangsters and have confiscated their property worth over Rs 1,800 crore. We are demolishing their illegal properties,” he said.

Yogi added that domestic and foreign industrialists, who were scared of investing in UP due to lawlessness and bureaucratic red tape during the previous governments, were now willing to invest in the state due to restoration of rule of law as well as policy reforms that had made UP number two in Ease of Doing Business in the country. “Industrialists are investing over Rs 3 lakh crore in the state in different fields,” he pointed out.

The chief minister said that the MSMEs, which had been lying defunct in the state for past several years, were currently exporting goods worth Rs 1,21,000 crore and UP was well on the way to become an export hub of the country

Furthermore, according to him, 1.38 crore poor people have got free power connection while 2.61 crore toilets have been built in the state in the last four-and-a-half years. Apart from this, six crore people are benefitting from the Ayushman Bharat scheme. In terms of infrastructure also, Uttar Pradesh has been making rapid progress with 341-kilometre-long Purvanchal Expressway having already been constructed and 594 kilometres of land acquired for Ganga Expressway which will connect the eastern and western UP.

Besides, the state currently boasts of five international airports and eight domestic airports while work is underway on 10 airports, the chief minister pointed out.

In the field of education, seven new universities are being built, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University and the Police and Forensic Institute in Lucknow under the new education policy.

Yogi said that his government was also committed to the uplift of farmers in the state and had taken several initiatives in this regard. He said that his government had purchased a record 66 lakh metric tons of food grain from farmers and made a record payment to sugarcane farmers.