Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of the politically complex Uttar Pradesh, remained in news all throughout his maiden year in the state, more so than any other Chief Minister. On BJP's first anniversary in UP, we take a look at how the Yogi Raj performed.
Healthcare
When CM Yogi Adityanath suggested his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan to learn from his cow belt state on how to run hospitals, it created quite a stir, and the irony wasn't lost.
Uttar Pradesh with Yogi Adityanath at its helm, is in a grip of problems refusing to cease, especially with respect to healthcare. More than 1,000 children died in a state-run Gorakhpur hospital in 2017. The state government denied that the deaths were due to disruption in oxygen supply, and maintained that Japanese Encaphilitis was the real culprit. Nonetheless, the damage was done.
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In February this year, at least 46 people were found infected with HIV at a tehsil in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district in the last 10 months, after which a quack was booked over the allegation that his use of a common syringe led to the spurt in such cases. This only added to the woes of the BJP government in the state which had promised better healthcare.
Anti-Romeo Squads
In its election campaigns, the BJP was determined to alter UP's reputation of being unsafe for women. Yogi Adityanath, at the very beginning of his Raj in the state, formed 'Anti-Romeo' squads to “protect women” and crackdown on “eve-teasers” across the state.
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The 'squads' drew criticism from many after the police conducted raids on parks, malls and colleges to deter the so-called Romeos.
These special vigilantes created a stir across the country, with the release of video footages showcasing innocent men and couples being subjected to harsh treatment. The move even generated a widespread interest in the international media.
Crackdown on slaughterhouses
Within a month after taking charge, Yogi Adityanath ordered closure of illegal and mechanised slaughter houses across the state, and ordered strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfill a key electoral promise.
Due to the strike, non-vegetarian food outlets, including the famous Tunday and Rahim's shifted to mutton and chicken dishes after buffalo meat became scarce.
Controversies soon followed, with meat sellers threatening to go on indefinite strike, to many accusing the decision of adversely impacting livelihood of several people.
Encounters
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that came to power in Uttar Pradesh promising to provide its people a society free of goons in a state where goondagiri is style-statement has seemingly given the police an upper hand to control crime. And the mantra is: encounters.
A staggering 430 encounters in merely 6 months, which translates close to 1 encounter every 12 hours in last 180 days, does point towards a very disturbing trend. The CM had announced that 193 encounters were carried out in Meerut alone, while 84 in Agra and 60 in Bareilly, which according to to him is the parameter of 'good governance.'
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However, many believed the encounters to be 'extra judicial killings', targeting people illegally to create an atmosphere of fear.
The government reportedly has also allowed district police chiefs to announce rewards of up to Rs. 1 lakh for a team that carries out an encounter -- which runs afoul of the National Human Rights' Commission's (NHRC) observations.
UP Investors' Summit
The State was all decked-up in February this year to welcome delegates from around the world for the UP Investors' Summit 2018, the first such event by the Yogi Adityanath government.
The Summit, inaugurated by the Prime Minister himself, was organised to further the cause of economic development in the state and attract investments.
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During the event, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said, “Our target is to create 40 lakh new job opportunities in UP in the next three years." It was attended by at least 5,000 people including industry heads from India and abroad, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, policy makers and academics.
Crackdown On 'Education Mafia'
The UP government issued directions to install CCTV cameras in all board examination centres to ensure copying-free board exams to be held across the state. With a view to clamp down on cheating in the state board examinations, the state government took help from the Special Task Force (STF) and local intelligence agencies to keep an eye on the "education mafia". The objective was "copying free examinations" and preventing the education mafia from doing mischief.
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More than 1.8 lakh students did not appear for Uttar Pradesh board examinations on the first day.
Bureaucratic Reshuffle
The UP government spent much of its time in ordering transfers of IAS officers in the past one year. The Yogi government transferred 37 IAS officials and promoted Gorakhpur district magistrate Rajiv Rautela, who sparked controversy on Wednesday for stopping journalists from accessing details at the Lok Sabha bypoll counting centre.
While Rautela has been promoted as divisional commissioner of Devipatan, 16 district magistrates were transferred.
(Inputs from agencies)
