Exhorting Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from Uttar Pradesh to invest in the state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that their efforts could take UP to a new height particularly in the health sector.
“The Samajwadi Party Government has done tremendous job in the health sector. UP is the only state in the country where patients get free medicines and ambulances reach patients within minute. Still more needs to be done and for this we need support from the NRIs. If they help us in building infrastructure they will help the government in its endeavour to serve people better,” Yadav said here on Sunday while launching "Svadesh", an NRI-related initiative. SVADESH is acronym of Silicon Valley and Avadh’s Development for Entrepreneurial Services for Humanity. Mayor of Auckland city in California (USA) libi Shroff assured all help to the Chief Minister through video conferencing. He said that NRIs have always helped the State Government and with their continuous efforts they (NRIs) can change the face of Uttar Pradesh. "UP government wants direct communication with the NRIs so that they could support initiatives taken by UP Government in development of the state,'' he said.
He even gave example of other states where NRIs have spent money to build infrastructure. “We have the example of Karnataka where NRIs from that state helped the state government in building infrastructure. If that can be done there why it cannot be done in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. Chief Minister said that SVADESH will help generating more employment in the state, expedite research in different sectors and bring the UP-based NRIs closure to their motherland. The state government also signed an MoU with the Silicon Valley companies. Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said the MoU Silicon Valley-Awadh Development focused on skill development and introduction of new technology in health sector. Mayor from Auckland California through video-conferencing had desired to come to India to meet the chief Minister.
The MoU of a US-based group to set up a healthcare infrastructure in the state under 'SVADESH' is an investment initiative by NRIs and also a way to bring East and West together. 'SVADESH' is the brainchild of three non-resident Indians, including sisters Dr Nandini and Priya Tandon from the state, and Dr B R Shetty based in Abu Dhabi. Ranjan said that the state government is open to ideas. Maximum work would be done in the health and IT sectors and major share of the Budget is being spent on these two, he said. Advisor to Government’s External Aided Projects Madhukar Jaitley said that the SVADESH was the first achievement of the NRI Department. Many more such schemes will be launched in near future, he said.