Yogi says his govt renovating memorials dedicated to SC icons
The memorials associated with icons of SC community are being renovated and beautified so that the future generations may take inspiration from their works, says CM
VARANASI: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the previous governments did nothing for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes. He also said these regimes ignored the memorials of great men (icons) who became the voice of the SC community.
On the other hand, his government was renovating and beautifying memorials dedicated to such icons in UP, he said. Adityanath was speaking as the chief guest at the concluding session of the national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Scheduled Caste (SC) Morcha in Varanasi.
Had the previous regimes done something for the SCs, STs and the backward classes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not have had to launch the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014, Yogi Adityanath said.
He also said due to the Swachh Bharat Mission, toilets were built in the homes of 10 crore people in the country and 95% of the beneficiaries belonged to the SCs, STs and Backward Classes. A total of 2. 61 crore people were given toilets in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
Yogi also said the Swachh Bharat Mission brought unprecedented improvement, adding that it changed the lives of people and India’s image in the world.
Mentioning various schemes started by the Central government, Yogi said that houses were given to 2.5 crore people under the PM Awas Yojana in the country. In Uttar Pradesh, 42 lakh people were given houses after 2017, he said, adding that free ration was being given to 80 crore people in the country.
Besides, 50 crore people benefitted from the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme through which a poor person can get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh, he said.
Stating that free ration was being given to 15 crore people in Uttar Pradesh now, Yogi said during the Samajwadi Party rule, hunger deaths were reported from Sonbhadra, Kushinagar and Chitrakoot districts.
After coming to power in 2017, an investigation was done and it came to light the people who were actually eligible were not getting the benefit of the ration card, the chief minister said. Someone else was taking ration in their name and 40 lakh such ration cards were detected and action was taken, he added.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, no one was allowed to die of hunger as arrangements for free ration were ensured for all, he said.
Yogi said the memorials associated with icons of the scheduled caste community were being renovated and beautified so that the future generations may take inspiration from their works.
He said the beautification and development of Sant Ravidas temple at Seer Govardhan in Varanasi was being done and the Uttar Pradesh government was building a memorial to Maharaja Suheldev in Bahraich.
He said people who were in power earlier should be asked as to why this work was not done earlier.
A national memorial to Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was being built in Lucknow, he said.
Asserting that the BJP did not do caste politics, he said the party worked to bring harmony in the society.
The BJP government implemented many public welfare schemes, realising the dreams of Ambedkar, he said. These schemes brought about a radical change in the standard of living of the underprivileged, he added.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s SC Morcha national general secretary Bhola Singh said the Congress remained in power at Centre for 57 years, but it didn’t take make any satisfactory effort for the social, economic and academic uplift of the SC community.
Singh said the present BJP government had taken a number of steps for these sections and people were getting benefits of the developmental and welfare schemes, for which the Morcha thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.