The next four years will see a sustained focus on reviving industry and generating jobs in Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said ahead of completing his first year in office.
Adityanath, in an interview to Mint, signalled a convergence of economics and politics: create a viable ecosystem for business in the state and thereby incentivize job creation-a politically crucial milestone, especially given the young demography of Uttar Pradesh.
“We have (in the last 10 months) tried to understand what are the requirements of Uttar Pradesh, what steps are needed so that it becomes part of the list of developed states in the country,” the chief minister said before adding, “As a result of these discussions, we have come up with the plan of ‘one district, one product’ and the next step in this direction is the Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit.”
The two-day investor summit is to begin on 21 February and will be followed by a global investor summit.
The state is crucial to the electoral plans of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party pulled off an audacious win in the 16th general election by winning 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh, and followed up three years later with a spectacular victory in the assembly polls winning 325 seats out of 403.
A good showing in Uttar Pradesh is an imperative if the BJP is to win another term at the centre in the general election due in the first half of 2019.
According to Adityanath, the administrative environment in the state had transformed, particularly with regard to law and order-a precondition for social and economic development.
“I have repeatedly said that there have been no fake encounters in Uttar Pradesh. It is our responsibility to protect the 22 crore people of Uttar Pradesh and we are doing our duty and will continue to do so,” Adityanath said.
The chief minister claimed success in implementing his government’s farm loan waiver, saying an amount of Rs80,000 crore had been transferred to the bank accounts of farmers reeling under rural distress. Another Rs6,000 crore is to be paid to farmers for procurement of wheat and Rs6,200 crore for paddy procurement, Adityanath added.
Expanding on the ambitious plans for the state, the chief minister explained that his government had already unveiled 14-15 sectoral policies to encourage investments, with a strong focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“We want to make Uttar Pradesh the most developed state in the country. We want to channelize the youth so that the state benefits from them and help Uttar Pradesh become a developed state,” Adityanath said.
Analysts said the chief minister has identified the right priorities, but that the challenge will lie in execution.
“The realisation that employment generation is a challenge is needed and by getting investments the state government is trying to meet the challenge. The state needs improvements in the law and order situation. The problem for the state government is that general elections in 2019 are very near that the chief minister has to show immediate results,” said A.K. Verma, a political science professor at Christ Church College, Kanpur. (With Mint)
