Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the state government is vigorously pursuing the agenda of development while there were some forces inimical to the interests of the state were creating obstructions.
Addressing a meeting after selection of Haj pilgrims through a lottery in lucknow on Monday, the CM said that the government has taken measures for overall uplift and welfare of the minorities and other sections of the society yet there were forces against the development of UP.
He said that despite designs and conspiracies of communal forces, the SP government has been successful in promoting harmony and benefiting all sections of society with development schemes.
The CM said that the aim of all religions is serving the cause of humanity and there was no place for dispute and strife. He asserted that goals of development could be achieved only by adopting the socialist model of economic development. listing measures for welfare of the minorities, Yadav said that after clearing legal hurdles, the government has given legal status to practitioners of Ayurveda and Unani medicines in UP. “A large numbers of people from minority community have benefited from the Samajwadi Pension Scheme,” he added.
He also lauded the efforts of Minority Affairs minister Azam Khan for promoting education in the community by establishing Maulana Jauhar University in Rampur.
The programme for the selection of pilgrims began with recitation of Koran. Prominent clerics including Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahli, SP Rajya Sabha member Munawwar Salim, Chairman of Urdu Akademi Nawaz Deobandi and a large number of applicants were present.
In the computerized lottery, three persons from Kannauj — Mohammed Salim, Mohammed Suhail and Rabia Begum were the first to be selected. The Central Haj committee has fixed a quota of 21,828 pilgrims from UP. The UP Haj committee has received 48,683 applications.