Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The government of Uttar Pradesh has made grand plans to celebrate the completion of the first year of Yogi Adityanath’s second term as chief minister on Saturday, March 25. Not only does it intend to project Adityanath as the CM to have served the longest time in the post consecutively (six years), but also highlight the so called “Yogi Model” of development that places “faith” front and centre.
While the government is preparing to highlight Adityanath’s governance model based on 10 prime focus sectors, it is clear that compared to his first term, the focus has shifted to “image building”, in which “nivesh” (investment) has taken precedence over “law and order”. It was thus not surprising when the state government recently decided to open tourism information centres at prominent cities across the country to disburse information on places of tourist significance in Uttar Pradesh.
With image of Adityanath as the “Demolition Man” or “Bulldozer Baba” firmly established across India and abroad, there are now attempts to project him as a “leader” whose development model is woven around the agenda of “respect for faith (astha ka samman)”. Thus, while the BJP at the Centre is preparing to showcase the construction of the Ram Temple before the Lok Sabha elections due next year, the state government is focusing on projecting “development of Ayodhya” as a “model town” for visitors to the temple.
Adityanath is personally reviewing development works at Ayodhya regularly, both from Lucknow and by making periodic visits to the temple town. Right from making it a model solar city, to the widening of roads, everything that upholds the city’s progress, from the development of civic amenities to a new bus station and airport, is on the agenda. Along with Janmabhumi Path, the city will see a Sugreev Kila Path and a Bhakti Path.
It is the same with other religious towns. The government has also already started preparations for the 2025 Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, while Naimisharan in Sitapur and Braj in the west, as well as Vindya and Chitrakoot Dham in the east, are next on the agenda.
Further, the government that claimed it would convert Uttar Pradesh into “Uttam Pradesh” during its first term, has now shifted focus to make the state “Nivesh Pradesh” as it completes first year of its second. The Global Investor Summit in Lucknow is said to have received Rs 35 lakh crore investment proposals, and the government claims it has been able to attract investment to its hinterland, beyond the NCR region.
It was visible when a major part of the first year went into planning and conducting the Global Investor Summit 2023. Over 20 sectoral policies were updated over months to suit the needs of investors, as delegations of ministers and senior bureaucrats were sent to different states and countries and even asked to hold district level investor summits, before the grand event took place in February, while two G-20 meets were also held around the same time.
The government has now shifted its focus on organising mega “ground-breaking” (inauguration) ceremonies to turn selected investment proposals into reality in the next few months. At the same time, it has already started preparing for another grand event this year, the five-day “UP International Trade 2023” in September.
The second term also started with its own set of controversies as some ministers locked horns with bureaucrats. While some were soft in expressing their concern, those like Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak came out in the open to criticise his own head of the Department of Medicine and Health, alleging discrepancies in transfers. Though the issue was resolved, there are still many within the party who feel that bureaucrats continue to dominate in the functioning of the government and even in decision making.
The last year has also seen Adityanath consulting other ministers in taking decisions. There were separate Cabinet meetings beyond the regular ones. Many a time, development projects are being presented before a group of ministers rather than just the CM.
Beyond the claims of investment and of “zero tolerance” against crime and criminals, the 10 focus sectors on which the government claims to be working on, and has set short and long term goals for each, include law and order, agriculture production, social security, infrastructure and industry, urban development, rural development, medical and health, education, tourism and culture, as well as revenue collection. Each of these sectors have been allotted separate officers in-charge for monitoring goals and targets.
It is also focusing specially on youth, with unemployment raised by the Opposition as a major issue before the 2022 Assembly elections. Apart from making attempts to develop local tourism centres to generate employment and boost the local economy, the government is also promoting sports and skill development, including gyms at the village level, and incentives.
On law and order, the government claims to have booked 63,055 criminals under the Gangsters Act and 836 criminals under the National Security Act. Having focused on seizure of properties of gangsters, sources say about Rs 9,022 crore worth property has been seized under the Gangsters Act alone. In the past six years, the government has also taken credit for adopting a Police Commissionerate system in seven cities, including Gautam Budh Nagar, Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ghaziabad.
Another sector in focus is infrastructure development, especially the construction of new expressways. These include the already completed Purvanchal and Bundelkhand expressways, while tte Gorakhpur and Balia Link expressways are being constructed.
The government is now preparing to develop industrial townships along these expressways, along with medical colleges in every district, as well as regional airports, with a target of 21 airports (including five international airports) across the state.
