Deepotsav to dazzle with 9 lakh diyas in Ayodhya and 45 lakh more across UP
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said his government would ensure nine lakh earthen lamps were lit in Ayodhya during Deepotsav along with an additional 45 lakh diyas across the state in as many homes of beneficiaries of the BJP government’s schemes. The Deepotsav function is held on the Diwali eve which falls on November 3 this year.
There are an estimated nine lakh beneficiaries of PM’s and CM’s Awas Yojanas (housing schemes) in urban parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Adityanath said on Sunday that his government would light one earthen lamp for each of them during the Deepotsav. “While these nine lakh earthen lamps would represent the housewarming ceremonies of as many people in urban UP, the government would also light earthen lamps at the houses of 45 lakh people across the state who have got a house,” Adityanath told members of the Prajapati community for whose benefit a Maati Kala Board was also set up by the BJP government. The move comes 12 days after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lucknow where he expressed the wish to see that along with Ayodhya, the homes of the beneficiaries of government schemes also shine bright with lights emanating from earthen lamps prepared by local potters. Adityanath also appealed to the people to buy locally made clay idols of Lakshmi and Ganesh on Diwali.
The government push for clay ahead of Diwali is being seen part of a major outreach towards the Other Backward Caste (OBC) Prajapati community comprising potters.
On October 5, during his visit to Lucknow, PM Modi had tasked the UP government with a “homework and a challenge”.
“I am told that UP government plans to light up 7.5 lakh diyas in Ayodhya during this year’s Deepotsav. I want to task you with homework. Can we also see as much brightness emanating from the homes of those who got their new house under the PM or CM Awas Yojana? Will you accept this challenge?” Modi had said.
“Through Maati Kala Board we managed to ignite fresh hope among the potters. We organised exhibitions of their products in Lucknow and elsewhere across the state too and it was quite successful,” said minister of state Dharamvir Prajapati who headed the board till recently.
He was appointed as one of the seven new ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government last month.
Prajapati said that Adityanath’s appeal to the people to buy Lakshmi and Ganesh idols prepared by local potters and to light up earthen lamps would also help the community.
“A similar appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was made a couple of years back. That helped a lot. Now, this appeal by chief minister Yogi Adityanath would also benefit in a big way. Moreover, the entire exercise is also part of the exercise to boost local products and to stop mindless reliance on China which had been hitting the local potters by flooding the market with not-so-quality goods,” Prajapati said.
Since 2017, the Adityanath government has been holding the Deepotsav function in Ayodhya, beginning with 51,000 earthen lamps in the inaugural year to 4, 10, 000 earthen lamps in 2019 and 6, 06, 569 lamps in 2020 – setting newer Guinness world records each time. The BJP has also set up a beneficiary wing to coordinate various outreach activities for beneficiaries.