Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that basic necessities like health and education are extremely important for any developed and civilized society. An educated society can advance its development prospects, and if the society is healthy, it can lay the foundation for empowering itself.
CM Yogi Adityanath launched ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ and ‘Special Communicable Disease Control Campaign-2025’ in Bareilly. Along with this, he flagged off 2,554 new ambulances equipped with state-of-the-art life-saving facilities and inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 132 development projects worth Rs 933 crore. On the occasion, he distributed certificates, symbolic cheques, tablets / smartphones to beneficiaries of various public welfare schemes and text books to school children.
Greeting the people of the state on Basantik Navratri, CM Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh, which was earlier considered a backward state, has today become the second largest economy of the country and efforts are being made to make it the largest economy of India. Describing the ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ as the cornerstone of development of education, he urged the citizens to contribute in sending children to school, which will also strengthen higher education, technical education and medical education.
CM Yogi Adityanath said that in 2017, 1.34 crore children of the state were enrolled in schools, out of which 60% children did not go to school regularly. The government provided assistance through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to 1.91 crore children by improving school infrastructure. 96% schools have been provided with drinking water, smart classes, digital library, furniture and separate toilets under Operation Kayakalp.
Highlighting the efforts of the government in the health sector, he said that more than 2,500 ambulances are being deployed in the state to reduce the response time of emergency health services. He informed that before 2017, the average response time of 108 ambulance service was 17-19 minutes, which has now been reduced to 7 minutes.
Discussing the control of infectious diseases, CM Yogi Adityanath said that special campaigns are being run in different areas of the state to raise awareness and prevent diseases like encephalitis, dengue, malaria, chikungunya and kala azar. He said that due to the efforts of the double engine government, encephalitis has been controlled to a great extent in Gorakhpur and nearby districts.
Yogi Adityanath said that there were only 12 government medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh before 2017, but in the last 8 years, 44 new medical colleges have been set up, which has expanded the medical facilities in the state. Under the ‘One District, One Medical College’ scheme, work is going on at a rapid pace to open medical colleges in every district.
Atal Residential School, built at a cost of Rs 70 crore, was inaugurated, which will provide high-quality education to the children of workers. CM Yogi Adityanath said that in the districts where there are no Atal Residential Schools, Chief Minister Composite Schools are being set up, so that children can get education from pre-primary to 12th in one campus.
CM Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh has the largest youth population in the country, which is contributing to the development of the state. Through the School Chalo campaign, the new generation will be educated and skilled so that they can capitalize on jobs and employment opportunities in the future.
Speaking on the development of Bareilly, CM Yogi Adityanath said that the city is now emerging as a smart city. New industries, dairy and medical sectors are being invested here, as well as ring roads and new flyovers are being built. He said that before 2017, there used to be riots in Bareilly, but in the last 8 years, there has been no riot here and now Bareilly has become a ‘riot-free, good city’.
During the programme, various public representatives and dignitaries also expressed their views and appreciated the efforts of the government in the field of education, health and development.