Lucknow, February 20: On the final day of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly’s budget session, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a fierce attack on the Samajwadi Party and Congress, highlighting the achievements of his government.
He emphasized the eradication of encephalitis, the waiver of loans for 8.6 million farmers, interest-free loans for 110,000 youths, and the expansion of 9.6 million MSME units. Adityanath stated that Uttar Pradesh is moving forward on a model of development and transparency, rather than caste-based politics.
Quoting national poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, he remarked, “It is difficult to know the essence of rivers and heroes… only cowards and cruel make noise about caste.”
The Chief Minister pointed out that during the tenure of the Samajwadi Party, encephalitis caused the deaths of 1,500 to 1,700 children annually, predominantly affecting Dalit, backward, and minority communities. He stated, “Your government was in power four times, yet you did not take this issue seriously. We developed a data-driven strategy and established effective control after 2019.”
In a jab at opposition leader Mata Prasad Pandey, Adityanath noted that certain districts were portrayed in such a way that people could not even find a hotel room. Today, he said, people proudly identify as being from Uttar Pradesh.
Discussing fiscal management, the Chief Minister revealed that the debt ratio, which was 4.39 percent in 2016-17, has now decreased to 2.9 percent. He asserted that every bank now trusts Uttar Pradesh.
Recalling the decision to waive farmers’ loans in 2017, he addressed concerns about funding, saying, “We waived the loans of 8.6 million farmers through budget management. Without setting ambitious targets, significant results cannot be achieved.”
He noted that the ‘One District One Product’ scheme, initiated in 2018, has led to a substantial expansion of the MSME sector, with 9.6 million active units. Registered units are now provided with an insurance cover of 500,000 rupees. Under the Chief Minister’s Youth Scheme, 110,000 youths have received interest-free and collateral-free loans.
Adityanath highlighted that the youth are being empowered with training for self-reliance. He also mentioned the announcement of establishing data center clusters in the budget, indicating that the state is rapidly advancing towards Industry 5.0 and artificial intelligence.
Regarding the Congress protest during the AI Summit held at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, he criticized the attempt to tarnish the country’s image while the world looked towards India.
A light moment occurred in the assembly when the opposition leader called for a law to regulate fees in private schools and colleges, prompting smiles among members, including the Chief Minister, during discussions related to Galgotias University.
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