UP set to be on fast track of development in Yogi 2.0

CM’s message to ministers & officials seems loud and clear: ‘Perform & achieve targets on time’

Bulldozers not to spare even corrupt officers and bankrupt builders to stop the systemic rot

Lucknow, April 7

Uttar Pradesh is all set to be on the fast track of development in Yogi 2.0. After a highly successful first tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, an emboldened Yogi Adityanath is now marching ahead with even greater firmness and resolve to script history in terms of development of the state in his second innings. His intent and agenda are even clearer in Yogi 2.0 than in his last tenure as even corrupt officers and bankrupt builders are not safe today, let alone mafias and gangsters.

Meanwhile, the newly inducted ministers have been asked to perform to the best of their abilities in the limited time frame of 100 days given to them. The ministers who had been asked to set targets for 100 days, have already made their presentations before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and have now been told by CM to work towards achieving their targets. They have been directed to set both short and long-term goals and try to achieve them on time. The ministers are visibly under pressure to perform in order to stay ensconced on their seats. They have no option, but to remain on their toes as their report cards would be reviewed every month. They also would be needed to inform the Government in advance before leaving the state.

Yogi proved in his first tenure as CM of UP itself that he was a hard taskmaster and would not tolerate non-performers. That is one of the main reasons why there are so many new faces in Yogi 2.0 cabinet. But all these ministers have little doubt that if they fail to deliver, they will lose their cabinet berths in no time. Being a Yogi himself, the Chief Minister has also put in place certain austerity measures to check extravagance on the part of ministers and has introduced checks and balances to ensure transparency in departmental dealings.

The positive aspect of this style of governance is that ministers who until now considered themselves to be the rulers of the departments they got to serve, would in most likelihood serve people now, focused on their targets and not taking their privileges for granted.

So, a minister of Yogi 2.0 cabinet has today set the target of holding 90 job fairs and providing employment to 25,000 people in the first 90 days. Another minister has said that his priority would be to bring as many children to school as possible as well as provide them with books, uniforms, schoolbags and shoes on time, in addition to enhancing facilities for children at school. Similarly, all the ministers have set their goals on the directive of the CM in accordance with the goals mentioned in BJP’s manifesto for 2022 polls.

The manifesto includes a lot of promises including among others waiving of electricity bills of farmers used for irrigation purpose, providing job to at least one individual in every family and free scooty to college-going meritorious girls. It also includes providing Rs 1 lakh to a poor family on the wedding of their daughters a monthly pension of Rs 1,500 monthly pension to widows and destitute women. Besides, the Government is moving ahead with its plans to have state-of-the-art government medical colleges in each of 75 districts of the state and to build six mega health parks, in addition to doubling the number of MBBS seats and appointing over 6,000 doctors and 10,000 paramedical staff.

Meanwhile, Yogi’s bulldozer is working overtime these days to demolish illegal properties of not only criminals, but also corrupt officers and cops. Lately, dynamite is also being used by the government agencies for faster removal of illegal properties.

No doubt, the government’s goals are big. In the first 90 days, the Yogi Government has set the target to fill 20,000 vacant posts in different departments and to provide 50,000 self employment opportunities. The Government has set an ambitious target of providing self-employment opportunities to five crore people of the state in the next five years. However, there is no room for doubt as the Yogi Government has the track record of delivering, which is the most obvious reason for his resounding victory in the 2022 assembly polls. According to the official figures the Yogi Government provided employment opportunities for 2.5 crore people through various schemes such as the One District One Product (ODOP) and by supporting the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in the last five years.

Even in his few-day old second term government, Yogi has disbursed Rs 585 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund for 16.26 lakh farmers of the state who suffered losses of crops due to excessive unseasonal rains during the financial year 2022 as part of his commitment to farmers. Under his leadership, wheat procurement has also started with a target to purchase 60 lakh million tonnes while the MSP for wheat has been increased from Rs 1975 per quintal in 2021 to Rs 2015 per quintal in 2022. He has also given clear instructions to the authorities to make payments to the farmers within 72 hours of purchase. In terms of infrastructure, Purvanchal Expressway is already open to traffic, while Bundelkhand Expressway is on the verge of completion and construction of Ganga Expressway is expected to start soon. Furthermore, Kushinagar International Airport has already become operational while things are progressing rapidly to begin construction of the international airport in Ayodhya and the Jewar International Airport. The Yogi Government has already acquired 317.855 acres of land for the international airport in Ayodhya and a lease agreement between the Airport Authority of India and the State Civil Aviation Department is on the anvil. In short, UP’s economy is on the move with intense activities taking place in every sector, including agriculture, infrastructure, education and health.