Varanasi: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday that instead of riots, mafia rule or curfews, Uttar Pradesh is now recognized for law and order, tourism, infrastructure and cultural revival.“Its new identity is linked with Kashi Vishwanath Dham, Ram Temple, Prayagraj Maha Kumbh, Mathura-Vrindavan and a growing network of modern development projects. Uttar Pradesh, once counted among BIMARU states, is now being presented as a major growth engine of India,” said Yogi while addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidates for MLC teachers and graduate constituencies of Varanasi division at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.Highlighting development in Varanasi and the state, he said Kashi Vishwanath Dham was receiving around one lakh devotees daily, with higher footfall during festivals.He claimed that 65 lakh youths got private sector jobs, while schemes such as ODOP and PM Vishwakarma linked more than three crore people with employment and self-employment.Highlighting the transformation witnessed since 2017, he said UP had only about 120 startups before 2017, while the number has now crossed 24,000.“The youth of the state is no longer a job seekers, but is also emerging as a job creator,” Yogi said.“When the BJP govt came to power in 2017, the issue of pension was reviewed, and a committee was formed under the finance secretary,” he said.Yogi alleged that between 2005 and 2017, govts did not deposit contributions under the New Pension Scheme and did not even open the required accounts.“Our govt arranged Rs 10,000 crore to open accounts for 14 lakh personnel and increased its contribution from 10% to 14%”, he said.Yogi said his govt worked to resolve issues raised by teacher representatives. “Health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh has been provided to teachers and their families across govt, aided, self-financed, basic and university-level institutions, he said, mentioning teachers at aided schools also received security insurance cover ranging from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore.“The govt respects education and has acted sensitively on teachers’ concerns, including special TET provisions after the Supreme Court’s direction,” he said.The CM also highlighted the distribution of 62 lakh tablets and smartphones to youth, with a target of providing tablets to two crore young people.Yogi said universities were being developed not only at the divisional level but also in districts. “New institutions have come up or are being developed in Sant Ravidas Nagar, Kushinagar, Shahjahanpur, Mirzapur, Balrampur, Azamgarh, Moradabad, Saharanpur and Aligarh, along with medical, AYUSH and sports universities, strengthening Uttar Pradesh’s educational and developmental future,” Yogi said.Apart from MLC teachers’ constituency candidate Pramod Kumar Mishra and graduate constituency candidate Kedarnath Singh, UP ministers Suresh Khanna, Anil Rajbhar, Ravindra Jaiswal, Dayashankar Mishra ‘Dayalu’, Hansraj Vishwakarma, Mayor Ashok Tiwari, MLAs Neelkanth Tiwari, Saurabh Srivastava, Tribhuvan Ram, Sunil Patel, Avadhesh Singh, and others were present.
