Hitting out at the opposition, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the previous government neglected the efforts of Mangal Dals while the Bharatiya Janata Party government recognised their immense energy, strength and creativity of youth and their contribution towards societal progress.
Handing out sports material to ‘Yuva and Mahila Mangal Dal’ from different districts as an incentive at his Kalidas Marg official residence in Lucknow on Saturday, the chief minister said that as a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts, today 77,935 Mangal Dals were registered in the state, out of which 42,042 were Yuvak Mangal Dals and 35,893 Mahila Mangal Dals.
"They have contributed immensely to campaigns like Fit India, Namami Gange, tree plantation, blood donation, sanitation, Covid relief among others,” he said.
Appreciating the work done by them, Yogi said that with their talent and ability, these youths were creating a new picture of the world's youngest country, and also the new Uttar Pradesh which had the largest number of youths in India.
Maintaining that the government was working towards developing sports infrastructure in rural areas of the state, the chief minister said, “Constant efforts are being made to encourage the players to participate in sports competitions up to the national level. Sports grounds and stadiums are being built in villages and open gyms are being set up. In many districts, sports grounds are being developed near the council schools. Events are being organised throughout the year for cultural development of youth and to save the cultural heritage starting from the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Cultural competitions, youth leadership training camps and rural sports competitions are also being organised in these events.”
Referring to Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) jawans, Yogi said that their duty allowance had been increased from Rs 375 to Rs 395 per day which was overlooked by the previous governments in the state.
The chief minister also praised the efforts of the entire team, including Minister of Youth Welfare Upendra Tiwari and Additional Chief Secretary Dimple Verma and said that in 2018-19, sports promotion material was distributed to 20,000 Mangal Dals and to 25,000 Mangal Dals in 2019-20, which was unprecedented.
Speaking about Startup India, Stand-Up India, Digital India, Khelo India campaigns launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister said that these schemes had shown a new direction to the youth.
Appreciating the difficulties faced by over 15,000 children of Uttar Pradesh trapped in Kota (Rajasthan) during the Covid period last year, the chief minister said that the state government sent buses and got them back safely and later the Abhyudaya scheme was started so that students did not have to move out of state and could prepare for competitive examinations like NEET, NDA, UPSC, Banking, JEE in the state itself.
“Besides, the state government is providing tablets/smartphones to about one crore youth to empower them digitally,” he said.