UP no longer BIMARU, on way to becoming 'saksham', says CM Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh has moved out of the BIMARU category and is on its way to becoming a "saksham" state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday.

Adityanath's remarks come a day after the NITI Aayog said India witnessed 13.5 crore people moving out of multi-dimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21, with the fastest reduction being in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

The BIMARU (sick in Hindi) acronym has often been used to refer to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, usually to imply that these states lagged in terms of economic growth, health care, education, and other indices.

The report -- "National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress of Review 2023" -- was released by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery on Monday.

Providing estimates for the 36 states and Union Territories and 707 administrative districts, the report said the fastest reduction in the proportion of multi-dimensional poor was observed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

Adityanath made the remarks while handing over appointment letters to 1,573 Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife health workers at Lok Bhawan, the state government said.

Adityanath said, "In 2015-16, about six crore people, constituting 37.68 per cent of the population, were below poverty line in Uttar Pradesh. With our efforts, the percentage of people below poverty line dropped from 37.68 per cent to 22 per cent in 2019-20 and currently it stands at 12 per cent, to everyone's surprise."

He further said many of the states continue to carry the BIMARU tag even today in the absence of the development required while Uttar Pradesh has moved out from it and is on its way to becoming a "saksham (competent)" state.

"The statistics of the NITI Aayog are proof of this," he said.

The chief minister said, "We identified districts that had lagged behind in the race for development including Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Budaun, Sitapur, Siddharthnagar, Sambhal, Kheri, Hardoi, and Banda. All these were aspirational districts. They underwent a significant change. Then we selected 100 aspirational blocks and started developing them."

Adityanath added that his government started working on the parameters set by the NITI Aayog on education, health, agriculture, water resources, skill development and employment. As a result, Uttar Pradesh has today been able to move ahead on the path of development.

Hitting out at the previous regimes in the state, Adityanath said the youth faced an identity crisis under the earlier governments.

"The uncle-nephew duo used to go out to collect money from people whenever government vacancies were announced. Today, no one can point a finger at state commission(s) or board(s)," he said in an apparent reference to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav was Uttar Pradesh chief minister between 2012 and 2017.

"We are taking the recruitment process for government jobs forward in a transparent manner by making better use of technology. The result of this is that there is enthusiasm among the youth of the state, who are also willing to contribute to the state's progress," the chief minister said.

Adityanath added that encephalitis has been completely eradicated from Uttar Pradesh.

Congratulating the newly-appointed health workers, the chief minister said ASHA and Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife health workers were neglected by earlier governments and vacant posts were not filled.

Realising the importance of Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife health workers, "our government started working in this direction. As a result of this, the vacant posts are being filled today".

The chief minister said his dispensation has organised 19 appointment letter distribution programmes under which about 58,000 youths have been given government jobs.

"If the government has a strong will, it can connect the youth with jobs and employment in a transparent manner," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Minister of State for Medical Health and Family Welfare Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, Principal Secretary for Medical Health and Family Welfare Partha Sarathi Sen Sharma, and officers and employees of the Health Department were present at the programme, the statement said.