Varanasi: Insisting that perception about UP and its districts has undergone a sea change, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday claimed while earlier people from Azamgarh were not given a room in a hotel because of the notoriety attached with its name, today they are welcomed wherever they go.Yogi was addressing a gathering on Monday after inaugurating the newly constructed milk chilling centre of Shri Baba Gorakhnath Kripa Dugdh Utpadak Sanstha in Azamgarh.Referring to the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, he asked whether the previous govts, which used to fire bullets at Ram devotees, could have accomplished this task. Describing Uttar Pradesh as a symbol of a new era of development, respect and faith, the chief minister listed the changes brought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Launching a sharp attack on the Samajwadi Party, the CM said that this party, which kept development work limited to Saifai, cannot see Azamgarh, which repeatedly elects its candidate.“I congratulate the chairperson of the Milk Producer Company, Neeraj, and more than 56,000 sisters associated with her, for accomplishing what seems impossible for others,” said the CM, adding that when a woman becomes self-reliant, the entire family becomes self-reliant, and such self-reliant families become strong links of society. The CM said that when the Milk Producer Company informed about the progress of this programme in Azamgarh, people were initially sceptical, but today the collection of 1.70 lakh litres of milk, fair price of Rs 55 per litre to farmers and cow rearers, and guarantee of unadulterated quality have proved the success of this model.The CM said that with the construction of the Purvanchal Expressway, the distance from Azamgarh to Lucknow has been reduced to 2.5 to 2.45 hours, whereas earlier it used to take 6 hours. Gorakhpur can now be reached in less than 1.5 hours.Similarly, connectivity with Varanasi and Prayagraj has also improved.The CM said that whether it is Congress or Samajwadi Party, the development of Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia and Jaunpur was never on their agenda. If it had been, they could have built the Purvanchal Expressway. They could have established a university in the name of Maharaj Suheldev. But development is not part of their agenda. Whereas the first agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party is Nation First.CM Yogi said that before 2017, where there were problems of illegal slaughterhouses and smuggling, today there are more than 7,700 cow shelters, arrangements for protection of 15 lakh cattle and assistance of Rs 1,500 per month per cow under the Mukhyamantri Sahbhagita Yojana. Besides, work is also being done in the direction of increasing nutrition and self-reliance by providing cows to malnourished families, which is becoming a strong foundation for the overall development and social empowerment of the state.Besides, while promoting biogas plants, Lakhpati Didis were honoured, who are supplying fuel to homes through gobar gas.The chief minister said that war is going on in the world, there is an uproar over petroleum products. “In such a situation, we Indians should feel proud under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi that everything is going well in India,” he said. Efforts are being made to make the country self-reliant in the energy sector through cheap electricity via the rooftop solar scheme and alternatives like gobar gas. This will automatically reduce the electricity bill by 60%.The CM appreciated the efforts of NDDB and Baba Gorakhnath Milk Producer Company and called for preparing 1 lakh Lakhpati Didis in Azamgarh and increasing milk production to 2 lakh litres, for which the govt is committed to providing all possible support.
