A Glimpse Of How Yogi Adityanath Upgraded Governance And Education In Uttar Pradesh

In March of 2017, when the BJP secured a thumping win by bagging three-fourth majority in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, speculations were rife on who would be the next CM of this state, where the party was returning to power after 14 years.

Tipping a few favourites like Manoj Sinha and Rajnath Singh, 44-year-old Yogi Adityanath was chosen to helm the top spot. Yogi had been a five-time MP in Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur.

Little had people guessed that the saffron-robed monk, the ‘outsider’ as he was known, for his fiery, at times communally charged speeches, would be chosen for the role.

Fast forward to 2022. The fire-brand leader in Yogi has started turning the fortunes of India’s most populous state slowly yet definitively around, for the better. Guided by the mantra of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, UP is seeing improvements across all quarters, like never before.

In a two-part series, I analyse the development that has happened in UP under the Yogi government across 5 S’s — Sushasan (Governance), Shiksha (Education), Samriddhi (Economic progress), Swasth (Health), and Shanti (relief from Mafia raj).

Sushasan (Governance): Ever since Yogi assumed office in 2017, public administration has been the focus area for his government. Numerous actions against officials for corruption, and negligence have been taken, and many have been asked to retire due to non-performance. Many a time, entire departments have been pulled up for want of performance. On 25 June 2019, Yogi sought a substitute for UP Jal Nigam, that he mentioned was “on a ventilator”. During the first week of August 2019, he warned the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN) of blacklisting them for delaying construction of six medical colleges in the State.

A 24-hour CM helpline (1076) was launched in Lucknow to address quick redressals, backed by a 500-employee-strong call centre team. State Police had also been asked to identify corrupt officers and bring them to task. Yogi had once famously said, “The official who does not take interest in working is a burden and a blot on the police uniform. They should be given voluntary retirement”. The tenets of corruption-free governance have been at the centre of the Yogi administration.

Shiksha (Education): Right from primary education to colleges, Yogi has been a front-runner in laying stress on educational improvement in UP.

Primary Education — Under ‘Operation Kayakalp’, more than 92,000 primary schools have seen development of basic infrastructure like boundary walls, electrification, toilets, and drinking water. Out of 1.56 lakh government schools, nearly 1.23 lakh schools have got a new makeover, courtesy Operation Kayakalp and the reach-outs to government officials and well-off people to adopt one government school each. Free uniforms, shoes, books, bags, and sweaters have been provided to 1.82 crore students during winter. Post Covid, Rs 1,100 per student has been transferred to their parents’ bank accounts.

For part-time instructors and cooks working in the schools of basic shiksha parishad, monthly honorarium for 27,546 part-time instructors will be hiked by Rs 2,000, while for 3.78 lakh cooks, this has been raised by Rs 500 per month. On the lines of anganwadi workers, cooks will get two saris per year and free health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh. Amounts needed for buying aprons and caps will be sent to their bank accounts.

The government has also announced free distribution of 2.5 lakh tablets and 5 lakh smartphones to college students. “There is a need to connect education with technology and prepare the students for competitive examinations. The Abhyudaya scheme must cater to the needs of every child,” Yogi has been quoted as saying.

If numbers were any indicator to go by, in last four years or so, 4.80 crore new students have enrolled in government schools in UP.

Higher Education — Over the past 76 years since India’s independence, UP had seen just 12 medical colleges. In the first three years of assuming office, Yogi and his Education ministry built seven new medical colleges and started classes in them. Overall, since 2017, UP has seen the emergence of 12 new universities, 250 intermediate colleges, and 77 degree colleges. The foundation stone for Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University was laid a few months back in Aligarh, while a few more universities are proposed in the name of Shakumbhari Devi in Saharanpur, Dhyanchand at Meerut (sports university), and late PM Vajpayee in Lucknow.

To improve health services post-Covid, ‘One District, One Medical College’ scheme has been proposed by government, under which medical colleges will be established in all 75 districts of the State. Leveraging the ‘Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana’, the Madhav Prasad Tripathi State Autonomous Medical College has been built in Siddharthnagar, at a cost of more than Rs 100 crore.

A few other medical colleges at Deoria, Etah, Hardoi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, and Pratapgarh have also been inaugurated, and admission for 100 MBBS seats through NEET have been ongoing for each of them.

Another Rs 2,000 crore expenditure is being planned by the State to start medical colleges in 14 backward districts like Chandauli, Bulandshahr, Sultanpur, and others.

Medical colleges will be set up on a PPP model in 16 identified districts where no government or private medical college is present.

In the next of this two-part series, I will focus on the improvements the State has seen across economy, health, and emancipation from the erstwhile Mafia-raj.

Stay tuned!