Lucknow: With the focus on Gen Z and Aadhi Abadi (women who comprise half of the state’s population), Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said women will get Rs 40,000 every year and all 26,000 primary schools shut by BJP govt in UP will be reopened once SP is voted to form govt in the state in 2027 polls.The former UP CM went on to add that students will get free travel on roadways and city buses and metro trains while girl students, who will clear their intermediate exams, will be given laptops. He announced that these issues will figure prominently in SP manifesto for the assembly polls.“Aadhi abadi ko poori azadi dilane ka kaam karenge (We will work to ensure complete freedom for women),” Akhilesh said, adding that “This is just the start of what our manifesto will look like. More such elements will be added to the list in the days to come.” Akhilesh was speaking at a discussion on Stri Samman Smridhi Yojana that SP had designed to implement, under which women will be given Rs 40,000 annually with an annual increase. The scheme is being seen as a build-up on Samajwadi Pension Scheme for women launched when Akhilesh was UP CM from 2012 to 2017.Insinuating that even BJP govt in the state has acknowledged that projects launched by SP govt a decade ago have been exemplary innovations that have stood the test of time, Akhilesh said recently when a Japanese delegation visited Lucknow, govt took them to 1090 headquarters – a project that was launched under SP govt for helping women in distress.“The project stands as an example of what SP govt had done for the safety and security of women,” he said.He said statistics show that Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states where daughters and sisters were facing injustice.“I can assure my sisters and women who form the Aadhi Abadi that no compromises will be made over issues related to them once the SP is voted to form govt in 2027 polls,” he said.Calling upon BJP-led Centre and state govts to implement the women’s reservation bill that had been passed in Parliament, Akhilesh said of late BJP has been talking a lot about Nari Vandan.“Next time when they talk of Nari Vandan, remind them of the daughter from Haathras. Remind them how a mother and her daughter were burnt alive. People still remember the photographs of a daughter trying to salvage her textbooks when her house was on fire and crumbling,” Akhilesh said, referring to incidents that had made headlines.He added that people also remember what chief minister said to a mother who had lost her son in the fire incident in Lucknow.“People would not have forgotten that he (CM) said he was in no mood to listen to lectures,” Akhilesh said, adding that people still remember how Khushi Dubey was sent to jail and humiliated.
