Hailing Chief Minister Yogi Aditanayanth’s initiatives to restart Yash Bharati pension, recipients said that they were hopeful that their pension would re-start soon. Famous Bhajan singer Anup Jalota said, “CM Yogi has assured and we hope that the matter will be resolved in three to four days. The CM summoned concerned officials and instructed them to take immediate action.” Yash Bharati was a felicitation scheme started by Samajwadi Party government, where recipients were entitled for a pension of Rs 50,000.
The scheme was disbanded by the Yogi government. Jalota said “I am concerned about those who were dependent on the pension. Some persons linked the awards with a party, but we are artists and were rewarded by the state government not by any party.” After the pension was disbanded, many recipients met Yogi demanding its revival. Veteran poet and writer Gopal Das Neeraj too met the CM on Mondaydemanding the restoration of pension. Yash Bharati recipient Alim Allah Siddiqui said that the government should order a probe whether any incompetent person was bestowed the award but pension should be revived as many of us came from poor families. Siddqui said that for some unworthy people, injustice should not be done with all. Jalota also urged that Yash Bharati be declared as state government’s award. He said that state government like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra felicitate many artists which motivate young artists to achieve more in their field.