Lucknow, August 4: The second day of the monsoon session in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council saw significant discussions on encroachment on footpaths and public roads. BJP member Vijay Bahadur Pathak raised the issue under Rule 110, urging the government to launch a statewide campaign to remove encroachments and hold negligent officials accountable.
The debate intensified as members from the ruling party and the opposition clashed over the declining standards of education. Dissatisfied with the government’s response, members of the Samajwadi Party staged a walkout.
Pathak highlighted the rampant encroachment on footpaths in cities like Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, and Kanpur. He noted that illegal parking, temporary and permanent occupations, and commercial activities are causing significant inconvenience to the public, especially women, senior citizens, the disabled, and school children.
He called for a special statewide initiative to clear footpaths and public roads of encroachments, ensure regular enforcement actions, and take departmental action against negligent officials. The question hour in the house concluded peacefully.
Samajwadi Party member Ashutosh Sinha raised concerns regarding a ₹25,000 crore MoU signed with an AI company by the state government. The Industrial Development Minister’s response left Sinha unsatisfied, prompting Chairman Kunwar Manvendra Singh to suggest an investigation into the eligibility for the MoU.
During zero hour, Dhruv Kumar Tripathi brought up the issue of regularizing ad-hoc appointed principals. Leader of the House and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya confirmed that an order regarding this has already been issued. The Chairman directed the matter to be discussed in the house’s education committee, scheduling a meeting for August.
Following this, members of the Samajwadi Party raised concerns about the declining standards of education through a suspension of business proposal. Kiran Pal Kashyap, Dr. Man Singh Yadav, Ashutosh Sinha, and Lal Bihari Yadav accused the government of weakening the public education system, citing teacher shortages, school closures, and favoritism towards private educational institutions.
In response, Basic Education Minister (Independent Charge) Sandeep Singh dismissed the opposition’s claims as baseless, asserting that the education standards in the state have improved and no government school has been closed. He emphasized the government’s commitment to providing a better future for underprivileged children and increasing teaching efforts.
Dissatisfied with the minister’s response, members of the Samajwadi Party accused the government of falsehoods and exited the house. In response, ruling party members stated that the opposition lacks patience to hear the government’s side. The Chairman advised the opposition to listen to the responses and instructed the minister to continue his statement.
During this session, independent members Rajbahadur Singh Chandel and Dr. Akash Agarwal raised the issue of granting a ₹6000 grade pay benefit to spokespersons working in SCERT and DIET. The Chairman also directed this matter to be sent to the education committee for resolution.
Leader of the House Keshav Prasad Maurya presented demands for supplementary grants for the financial year 2026-27. After lunch, the house addressed other agenda items and suspended proceedings until 11 AM on Wednesday.
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