No one wants to remember 2020 – a year which witnessed a pandemic that caused derailment of economic activities because of lockdowns. The harrowing images of the long march of migrant labourers from cities to their villages with their children in tow are something everyone would want to erase from their minds at the earliest.
But this adversity provided an opportunity to some and they turned the tide. The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, home to 23 crore people, fought this pandemic on two fronts. One, it saved people from the novel coronavirus and two, ensured that the economy was not derailed.
“The zeal with which the Yogi government has worked has set an example for many other governments. So it is no surprise that in the year 2020, not only did the Yogi government control the menace of COVID-19 but it also effectively worked in sectors of health, employment and education,” said senior cabinet minister Brajesh Pathak.
From the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya to the resolve to build the world’s largest film city, the Yogi government made some major decisions in 2020 that have given an impetus to the development of the state.
The zeal of the government delivered results as UP achieved second position in State Business Reform Action Plan-2019: Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) annual ranking. Last year, UP was in 12th position and this year it jumped to the second position. UP has left behind several leading states such as Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra etc. in the EoDB annual rankings. UP is second only to Andhra Pradesh (AP).
In his written submission to the Vidhan Sabha on July 25, Industrial Development Minister Satish Mahana had said the roadmap to improve Ease of Doing Business ranking was created under the template of Centre’s Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2019.
“We were able to cut the red tape to achieve this ranking. Because of this many foreign companies have set up their units in the state,” Mahana told this reporter.
To buttress his point, he said: “During the coronavirus period, 57 national and foreign companies have tied up with the state government for investment of Rs 46,501 crore. It is estimated that after the start of production of these companies in the state, direct and indirect employment opportunities will be available to millions of people.”
With a view to promoting investment and generating employment opportunities on a large-scale, the Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Summit was organised in Lucknow on February 21-22, 2018 and MoUs worth Rs 4.68 lakh crore were signed. Within three-and-a-half years, around 43 per cent of the leads generated in the Investors’ Summit saw the light of the day and projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore are in the active stages of implementation.
To provide momentum to industrial development, the Uttar Pradesh government has laid a network of roads starting from Purvanchal Expressway to Ganga Expressway and from Gorakhpur link Expressway to Bundelkhand Expressway. These expressways will add a new chapter in the road connectivity of Uttar Pradesh.
The Yogi government has also launched the ODOP (One District One Product) scheme to promote local products. Also, the Yogi government took a major decision in 2020 to make MSME the backbone of the state’s economic development.
Besides, the government took some administrative actions like bringing a tough law against forced conversion and even decided to put the pictures of criminals on posters. The Yogi government even intensified campaigns against criminals by seizing the properties of criminals and mafia. To cap it all, in 2020, the government issued a recovery ordinance to recover the loss to government properties damaged by rioters.