What really the 'double engine' government in Uttar Pradesh means can well be understood by the quantum of Central assistance the state government has received over the last four-and-a-half years ensuring effective implementation of the development schemes.
The Narendra Modi government at the Centre has given as much as over Rs 2,01,584 crore to the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh from 2017-18 till August 31 this year as compared to just Rs 1,36,832.63 crore received by the state during the previous regime from 2012-13 to 2016-17.
In fact, during the previous regime, the Central government headed by Congress -led United Progressive Alliance released Rs 17,337.78 crore in 2012-13 and about Rs 22,405.16 crore in 2013-14. Ever since the Modi government assumed office at the Centre, the state assistance has risen substantially to Rs 32,691.47 crore in 2014-15, Rs 31,861.33 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 32,536.86 in 2016-17 which also underlines the fact that no discrimination was made in this regard.
The development of Uttar Pradesh gained momentum only when the 'double engine' government in UP was well supported by the Central government, which paid rich dividends. The Centre sent funds for the development to the tune of Rs 40,648.44 crore in 2017-18, Rs 42,988.48 crore in 2018-19, Rs 44,043.96 crore, Rs 57,487.59 crore in 2020-21 and over Rs 16,415.61 crore in 2021-22 till August 31, 2021.
As a matter of fact, the benefits of 'double engine' government came to fore only after the Yogi government came into being in UP and received all support of the Central government for the first time in decades. The progress of UP went northwards largely because of the combined efforts of the governments at the Centre and in the state. Time and again, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about the benefits of 'double engine' government i.e. in the state and the Centre. Recently, he mentioned it during his visit to Aligarh last Tuesday.
No wonder, Uttar Pradesh reached the top position in effective implementation of about 90 per cent of the Central schemes which included PM Awas Yojana, PM Employment Generation Programme, highest jobs in MSME units, Ujjwala Scheme, Saubhagya Scheme, construction of personal toilets, Smart Cities Award 2020 etc.
This has been in sharp contrast to the previous regime as the Samajwadi Party government tried to impede the development and resisted implementation of several welfare schemes of the Centre. It denied the people of UP the benefits of Central welfare schemes.
