From Fiery Monk To Statesman Chief Minister: In His First TV Interview, Yogi Adityanath Shows He Means Business

Unruffled by the controversies cooked up in the media studios about his administration, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath looks focused on delivering good governance in the state. On his first day in office, Adityanath hit the ground running by enforcing the illegal slaughter houses related laws in letter and spirit.

Though some of the policies announced by his government, like the recent farm loan waiver are ill-advised and a classic example of bad economics, to people, the message has gone that the party has delivered on one of the most important poll promises.

Perhaps the greatest challenge before the new Chief Minister is to deliver on the most basic of the state’s job – law and order. Another big challenge is to deliver public services in an effective and transparent manner.

In his first television interview since taking charge as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath talked to Doordarshan on all big challenges facing the state. One can argue that the questions lobbed by the interviewer were softball. However, they covered issues ranging from unemployment to the poor standards of education in the state. Adityanath also cleared the air on some controversial decisions taken by his government to maintain law and order.

When asked about the measures government will take to improve the quality of education in the state, the newly-elected Chief Minister termed it as a top priority. Adityanath said that the state board has been asked to review the curriculum, adding that the board will adopt the Central Board of Secondary Education pattern if required. He also stressed on the need for teaching English and a foreign language in schools.

Adityanath said that in UP, schools run only 120 days out of 365 days and the government wants to increase the number of school days up to 220 days.

Talking about the law and order situation, the Chief Minister said that it needs a complete overhaul. Adityanath said he has asked the police to not judge people based on their face values. “It doesn’t matter if you are from a political party or any known person, if you are involved in a crime, action will be taken against you,” he said.

On safety of women, he said that the issue was the first his government focused on. Steps have been taken and stricter measures will follow in the future, he added.

On the issue of unemployment, Adityanath said the UP government has taken nine decisions in the Cabinet meeting to address the crisis. He informed that the government is working on a new industrial policy and is in the process of analysing the strategy implemented in other Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states to formulate an effective policy.

“The problem is that there are not enough opportunities for the youngsters in UP which forces them to migrate. Our aim is to provide employment to 90 per cent of our youngsters,” he added.

Talking about his government’s plan to help the farmers, he said strict action would be taken against sugar mills and there owners if they don’t comply with the rules and release the payment. He said sugarcane farmers will get their dues within 40 days. He also informed about his efforts to link farmers to government centres through Aadhar.

He categorically rejected the narrative of fear being peddled about his identity, saying that governance is the work of a yogi not a bhogi.

Watch the full interview here: