The Rashtriya Lok Dal criticised the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh saying that the NITI Aayog’s report had uncovered the reality of shameful performance of the government. RLD national spokesperson, Anupam Mishra said that Uttar Pradesh fared among the five poorest and worst performing states of the country as per the report of India Index 2021 for Sustainable Development Goals released by the NITI Aayog. He said that NITI Aayog prepares progress reports of states and union territories on social, economic and environmental parameters, in which 17 objectives, 70 goals and 115 indicators were included in 2020-21.
“A small state like Kerala, achieved the highest position and a large resourceful state like Uttar Pradesh, which has abundance of resources, stands among the five worst states. What is there in Kerala that UP does not have. The state’s performance raises many serious questions on the functioning, governance, power and polity of the state government. It was shameful for the state government that contrary to the claims, UP finds itself at the lowest rung with the most lagging five states,” he said.
“Even after having everything in abundance, there was a lack of government's resolve and administrative capacity. People will remain victims of starvation as before. The proportion of dropouts in education has increased. The sex ratio has also declined. The standards of clean water and sanitation have also not improved. Uttar Pradesh remains a lagging state in the construction of separate toilets for girls in educational institutions, which indicates the government’s thinking and priorities. There has also been a decline in proper working environment and economic progress. There has also been a decline in industry innovation and infrastructure. There is also a decline in gender equality,” he pointed out the fault-line.
The RLD leader said that UP has also been lagging behind in meeting the target of construction of toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission. “There has also been a lack of the disposal of harmful waste and the environmental program has been lax. This is the reason that 18 cities in UP were included in the world's 22 most polluted cities. Despite this, the government did nothing. In the area of life and land, plantation was also left behind. Not only this, an increase was also registered in human trafficking and other criminal cases. The Yogi government has only been propagating a false agenda,” he said.
“This Niti Ayog report will be placed before the public in the upcoming Assembly elections in 2022 and then the BJP will have to answer to the public. Thousands of crores of rupees that the BJP spent in these five years on polishing the image of its government, had even half of it spent on public welfare and development works, then perhaps the position of UP would not be as disappointing as it is," the RLD spokesperson said.