The Uttar Pradesh government has started preparations for the beautification of cities and all the municipal bodies ahead of the G-20 conference as the Urban Development department has directed all the stakeholders of the state to get involved in the preparations for the G-20 conference.
Addressing a press conference at Lok Bhavan on Thursday, Urban Development Minister AK Sharma said that hosting the summit was a golden opportunity for the state to present its best image to the foreign delegates.
He said 11 meetings related to the G-20 conference would be organised in Uttar Pradesh that would be held in four cities, including Varanasi, Lucknow, Agra and Greater Noida. He said the events were designed to boost economic development of the state and make India's role more important under G-20.
The minister said: “We are going to welcome guests by keeping our cities clean and beautiful. All decorative and beautification works will be permanent construction.”
He said that the first meeting of the G-20 conference would be held in Agra on February 11-12.
This will be followed by meetings in Lucknow from February 13. The facilities and arrangements are being enhanced at all the four venues of the G-20 conference while instructions have been issued to beautify all 75 districts in the state.
Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Amrit Abhijat said that this time the G-20 conference in India was being positioned as the ‘mother of democracy’. The state government sees this conference as a great opportunity as well.
“All the work done in the state regarding digital empowerment should be displayed in front of the guests, including digital transfers of funds under Kisan Pension Yojana, Mine Mitra, cultural tourism (Kumbh, Ram Mandir), and Covid Control Centre,” he said.
The principal secretary said as the G-20 was a group of 20 largest economies of the world, the event was a great opportunity to showcase the cultural diversity, heritage, tourist places of Uttar Pradesh in front of the world as the state aspires to achieve a $1 trillion economy goal.
Along with this, a walkathon-marathon will be organised in each district on January 21. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will flag off the walkathon in Lucknow. Various One District One Product (ODOP) items will also be displayed before the foreign delegates during the event.
“The rich historical and cultural legacy of Uttar Pradesh should be compiled and presented on the G20 platform. The prosperous economy, gross domestic product (GDP), industrial development and investments in various sectors should also be displayed. Each park and road in these cities has been instructed to be named after the G-20,” the officials said.
He said that various cultural programmes would be held during the G-20 meeting. “Our goal will be to make our foreign visitors feel more and more connected to our culture. A special emphasis will be placed on cultural programmes as well as food and clothing. Foreign visitors will be greeted with Bengali silk angavastram at the airport.