After disbanding the dream projects of the previous Samajwadi Party Government like Samajwadi smart phone, and cycle track, the Yogi Adityanath Government has ordered review of Yash Bharati awards saying Government awards should have a sanctity.
“We need a thorough probe into the Yash Bharati awards and should discard those names who do not fulfil the category to that coveted award,” the Chief Minister said during review of the Cultural Department last night. He, however, did not gave any comment on previous Samajwadi Party Government as well as former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Several kith and kin of the senior officials and politicians were selected for the awards during the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime. This award carried a cash reward of Rs 11 lakh, plus a monthly honorarium of Rs 50,000. Mega star Amitabh Bhachchan and his family members and many cine stars having roots in UP like Nawazuddin Siddiqui received this reward
Yogi said the BJP Government wants to give pension to the aged artists and link that with the Central sponsored schemes.
Meanwhile, to encourage tourism and increase connectivity between tourist hubs in UP, Chief Minister also directed the officials to start low-cost air and helicopter services connecting important tourist destinations and places of religious significance in the State. He also said helicopter services should be made available in cities on UP’s Buddhist circuit.
Reviewing the performance of the State’s Civil Aviation Department here on Thursday night, the Chief Minister said Government agencies should explore the possibilities of connecting more cities in UP by air, increase the network of airports and ensure that clearances for the proposed Jewar airport are expedited.
The Chief Minister also said that key tourist places like lucknow, Ayodhya, Mathura, Vrindavan, Naimisharanya, Prayag, Vindhyachal, Chitra-
koot, Kushinagar and Varanasi should be linked by air to increase tourist inflow. He further said that Regional Connectivity Scheme should focus on linking more UP cities by air and efforts should be made to build the international airport in Kushinagar, expand the air strip in Chitrakoot and build civil enclaves in Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra and Bareilly.
Saying that better air connectivity would directly impact the State’s economic growth, Yogi also ordered the Civil Aviation Directorae in UP to be fully computerised.
later, the CM instructed that all religious places should be connected through a four-lane road. He also suggested to link lucknow-Agra Express-
way to Bundelkhand to provide access to the people of the region. He instructed the officials to raise a tourist police force, comprising 500 men and 200 women cops.