Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Sunday, paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, saying “Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals laid the foundation for a ‘self-reliant’ India. Bapu’s call for Swadeshi, Swachhata and Gram Swaraj are the basis of the vision of attaining self-reliance”.
The Chief Minister also fondly remembered India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birth anniversary also falls on October 2, noting that he is admired across the country for his simplicity and decisiveness.
On the occasion, the chief minister paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi by offering a garland on the Gandhi statue located at the GPO Park in the state capital. He also later visited Gandhi Ashram and Shastri Bhawan, memorials to Gandhi and Shastri, respectively, to pay tributes to them along with Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, and Swatantra Dev Singh, among others.
The chief minister, while remembering Gandhi, said, “Bapu's teachings act as a guide for the new, free and independent India. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi since 2014 has worked assiduously to push the country towards self-reliance. Uplift of the poor through Jan Dhan accounts, Swachh Bharat Mission and safeguarding the dignity of women were among the first steps of the Modi government.”
In his address, the chief minister said that when the whole world was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the prime minister gave the mantra of a self-reliant India and promoted ‘vocal for local’. He said the double-engine government was working religiously for Gram Swaraj and self-reliance through the promotion of local goods such as Khadi.
Maintaining that his government was working for a self-reliant Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister said that schemes like One District One Product (ODOP) and Vishwakarma Shram Samman were encouraging local and traditional crafts and strengthening the rural economy. He said the government was also providing tool kits and financial assistance to support artisans and craftsmen.
“In the last five years, UP encouraged local products, and resultantly the exports have doubled. With this, we are leading lakhs of people towards self-reliance,” he added.
Furthermore, paying tributes to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, the chief minister said that Shastriji established India as a powerful country in the world with the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.
Yogi Adityanath said that for the next three months from Gandhi Jayanti, the state and Central government had decided to give special discounts on Khadi products. On the occasion, ministers of the government including the chief minister also bought clothes from the Gandhi Ashram.