Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the significant decline in encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh, saying he remained unfazed by the criticism from "vested interests" and continued with his efforts to combat the disease.
"I congratulate the government of Yogi Adityanath, which is working seriously on the front of cleanliness and health. There was not a single session of Parliament when Yogiji, as a Lok Sabha MP, did not raise the tragic issue of encephalitis deaths," the prime minister said here.
He was speaking at the launch of the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP).
Recalling the large number of encephalitis deaths
that occurred in the state in 2017 soon after the BJP government was formed, Modi said some "vested interest groups" had put the blame on Chief Minister Adityanath, ignoring the fact he had "waged a war against the disease and awakened the country" to the threat posed by it.
"But Yogiji did not fear, and did not relent, and his efforts gave positive results with significant decline in encephalitis deaths," the prime minister said.
Speaking on the occasion, Adityanath noted that more than 50,000 children had died in the last 40 years due to Japanese Encephalitis.
"The attitude of the previous government was rather lackadaisical. But, the Swachhta Mission of Modiji has been taken forward by the UP government, and the number of deaths has reached the minimum level," the chief minister said.
"The deaths which took place in BRD Medical College (Gorakhpur) were 426 in 2016, 380 in 2017 and 125 in 2018.
In 2019, as many as 234 patients were admitted of which 22 died.
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