Will make Ardh Kumbh a unique event: Yogi
ADITYANATH IN ALLAHABAD Working towards doubling farmers’ income to fulfil PM wish
ALLAHABAD: CM Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the government would make Ardh Kumbh2019 a unique event.
After inaugurating 34 development projects worth Rs 510 crore as part of the ongoing preparations for Ardh Kumbh here, Yogi said a committee of experienced officials had been constituted to design and monitor its preparations.
“Ardh Kumbh-2019 will be a unique event. We will constitute a Prayag Mela Authority which will be a permanent body for organising and managing religious festivals and programmes at Sangam throughout the year,” the CM said.
“An amount of Rs 2,500 crore has been set aside for Ardh Kumbh. Attractive logo and advertisements are being prepared. The logo will find place in every official document from now onwards till 2019. Advertisements will be aired on all channels and published in all newspapers till 2019,” Yogi added.
The CM said an airport would come up in the city which would become functional before the Ardh Kumbh. “Shringeverpur Dham will also be developed into a hi-tech tourist centre for which Rs 32 crore has been sanctioned,” he said.
Invoking former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ was relevant even in present times.
“When Shastri was the PM in 1965, the Indian Army pushed Pakistan on the back foot. The same happened with China on Doklam issue recently,” Yogi said, drawing a parallel between Shastri and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Farmers are also receiving support and encouragement in the Modi government,” he added.
Yogi said in accordance with the PM’s target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022, the UP government set aside Rs 36,000 crore for loan waiver of marginal and small farmers.
“We have already distributed 10,000 solar pumps among the farmers for irrigation. We hope the figure would reach around 22,000 soon. We will do everything for the farmers who constitute 70% of the state’s population and had been neglected by the previous governments,” he said.
After inaugurating 34 development projects worth Rs 510 crore as part of the ongoing preparations for Ardh Kumbh, Yogi presented loan waiver certificates to farmers from different parts of the district.
About 86 lakh marginal and small farmers will be covered under the crop loan waiver scheme. As many as 80,768 farmers have been selected in Allahabad alone.
In the first phase 13,156 farmers will get loan waiver in the district out of whom 11,585 received the certificates on Wednesday.
Yogi said previous governments used to purchase 5-7 lakh metric tons of wheat but this year, wheat purchase centres were started from April 1 which bought 37 lakh metric tons wheat at the prescribed rate.
He said the UP government was also planning metro service for Allahabad and air connectivity with other cities of the state.
The CM said the entry fee of Chandraskehhar Azad Park and Bhardwaj Ashram in Allahabad would be borne by the state government.
Lashing out at previous governments, Yogi said, “I am baffled that people who committed loot in the name of governance are raising questions on my five-month old government.
Prominent among those present at the programme included deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and cabinet ministers Surya Pratap Shahi, Sidharthnath Singh, Suresh Khanna, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’.
Meanwhile, Daraganj police detained two Samajwadi Party leaders,PankajKumarandShiva Yadav, for showing black flags to the chief minister.
SHIKSHA MITRAS STAGE PROTEST
Shiksha mitras staged a protest near the venue of the CM’s programme demanding the release of their salaries, which they claimed had not been given to them for over three years now.
Shiksha mitras were prevented from marching towards the venue and were detained by the police.