Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath Highlights Youth, Startup & Innovation Ecosystem At MGUG Foundation Day

Gorakhpur, August 28: Gorakshpeethadhishwar, Chief Minister and Chancellor of Mahayogi Gorakhnath University Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, said, "The double-engine government has created a strong ecosystem in Uttar Pradesh to provide every young person with ample opportunities to learn, pursue opportunities, undertake entrepreneurship and move forward according to their qualifications, interests and capabilities. Over the past 9 years, the government has developed a comprehensive ecosystem in Uttar Pradesh spanning education and skills to infrastructure, investment, startups, MSMEs and industry, which can help transform the capabilities of youth into opportunities, opportunities into employment and employment into economic prosperity."

CM Yogi was addressing the fifth foundation day ceremony of Mahayogi Gorakhnath University Gorakhpur (MGUG) on Friday. Addressing students at the programme held in the university auditorium, the Chief Minister stated, "Opportunities for youth to progress today are no longer limited to government jobs. They have numerous opportunities in education, skill development, entrepreneurship, startups, MSMEs, industry, digital economy, and research and innovation. The government is working to ensure that young people get an excellent environment to learn, experiment, start enterprises and move ahead."

The Chief Minister further informed, Uttar Pradesh has no dearth of potential. The state has a vast pool of young people, agricultural strength, entrepreneurship, natural resources and a rich knowledge tradition. The need is to connect all these with a direction, an ecosystem and new opportunities. Over the past nine years, the state has laid a strong foundation for transformation in this direction.

He said, "Improved infrastructure has enhanced connectivity in the state. Better connectivity has created excellent investment opportunities. Investment has expanded industry and employment opportunities. Digital infrastructure has also enhanced the capacity to take opportunities to a larger number of youth across the state. Through MSMEs and ODOP, local products, local artisans and handicraft workers have received excellent platforms. Similarly, the startup ecosystem has given youth opportunities to go beyond seeking jobs and create new solutions and enterprises."

CM Yogi stated, "The growing infrastructure in education, skills and healthcare is connecting this transformation with strong human capital formation. Our goal is to make Uttar Pradesh a state where large-scale investments come in and every young person becomes a part of those investments, industries and opportunities."

The Chief Minister said that the journey of education should not remain limited to obtaining degrees. The purpose of education is to prepare capable young people who can create opportunities through their knowledge and skills, and transform opportunities into employment and employment into progress. Students should not merely study to pass examinations, but should become capable of understanding real-world problems and finding solutions to them.

He stressed that education should connect classroom knowledge with the needs of society and industry. Students should develop the ability to become not only job creators but also innovators and entrepreneurs. Today's education system should follow the journey from education to skills, skills to capability, capability to opportunity, opportunity to innovation, innovation to entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship to employment and employment to economic growth. We have to take this forward.

The Chief Minister added, "India possesses a vast heritage of knowledge from the country's thousands-of-years-old Rishi tradition. This legacy of knowledge is being given a new direction by connecting it with modern science and technology."

He said that India has viewed health as a way of life. The country has thousands of years of heritage in the form of yoga, Ayurveda, naturopathy, medicinal plants and traditional agricultural knowledge. By combining this heritage with research and technology, Indian knowledge accumulated over thousands of years can become a strong foundation for future innovation, new opportunities and the new economy.

The Chief Minister further informed, traditional knowledge must not be confined only to books and traditions. It must be connected with research and laboratories and shared with the new generation. He said that Ayurveda must be connected with modern diagnostics, clinical research and new medical technology. Medicinal plants should be linked with modern agriculture, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research to create a new value chain. Yoga and wellness should be connected with preventive healthcare and solutions to the challenges of modern lifestyles. India's medical knowledge should be connected with scientific validation and quality standards and taken to the world in accordance with global benchmarks.

CM Yogi stated, "Traditional medicine, modern medicine, nursing, pharmacy, agriculture and other disciplines of knowledge are being promoted on the campus of Mahayogi Gorakhnath University. Generally, these are viewed as separate streams. We consider one to belong to modern medicine, or allopathy, another to pharmacy, another to nursing and another to agriculture, but in reality there is an internal connection between them that links one with another. All these should not be viewed as separate disciplines but as an integrated knowledge and innovation ecosystem. Solutions to major problems of the future will not emerge within the boundaries of a single subject, but through the convergence of different knowledge disciplines."

He continues by saying, "When all these disciplines come together, they will create not only better professionals but also opportunities for new research, new innovation, new startups and new employment."

The Chief Minister said that the real purpose of technology is also to provide better and simpler solutions to problems in human life. Explaining this with examples, he said that AI-based diagnosis can help make disease detection faster and more accurate. Telemedicine can become an effective means of taking specialist services to remote villages. Digital health can help manage patients' health-related information more effectively. Medical devices can provide advanced technology for better diagnosis and treatment. Similarly, biotechnology and genomics are opening new avenues for future medicine and research.

He informed, "Data-driven healthcare can help provide better and more effective healthcare services based on data. Precision farming can ensure higher production and better quality through the maximum and scientific use of limited resources. Drone technology can make crop monitoring, precision spraying and crop assessment more effective and scientific. Soil technology can assess soil quality and nutrients and promote scientific and balanced farming accordingly. Smart irrigation can save water, improve crop growth and enhance farm productivity by providing irrigation according to the actual water requirement."

He said, "Agri-processing can add value to farmers' produce, increasing its market value and income. Climate-resilient agriculture can improve production and farmers' income by adopting new farming technologies suited to changing climatic conditions. Research databases can systematically organise and preserve traditional knowledge and make it useful for modern research. Quality testing can ensure the quality, effectiveness and safety of medicines."

He added, modern manufacturing can connect traditional knowledge with modern production systems to produce quality products on a large scale. Evidence-based validation can facilitate scientific examination and further testing of the effectiveness of traditional treatments.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "Gorakhpur is not merely a city but a gateway to the potential of Uttar Pradesh. Its identity cannot remain limited to being a city of religious and historical traditions. Gorakhpur can be developed as a major regional knowledge and economic hub for education, healthcare, agriculture and innovation."

He informed, "Mahayogi Gorakhnath University can play an important role in transformation by establishing a strong relationship between education and research and development, innovation, industry and employment. The knowledge generated in university laboratories should move beyond classrooms and the four walls of the campus and reach villages, farmers, hospitals, industries and startups across the state."

Research by agriculture students should help increase farmers' income and productivity. Research by medical students should improve healthcare services in villages. Pharmacy research should lead to new medicines and innovation in healthcare. Technology should connect all these with larger markets and the new economy. CM Yogi said, "When knowledge generated on campus reaches a farmer's field, a patient's life, an industry's requirements and a young person's enterprise, only then will the university's knowledge truly become the strength of society and emerge as a force for the country's economic prosperity."

The Chief Minister called upon students to become not merely job-ready but future-ready. The world is changing rapidly, and therefore preparing for only one particular job is not enough. Students need to develop skills, vision and willpower that provide them with the ability to continuously move forward with a changing world. Do not ask yourself only what you can do for yourself. Take one step further and ask what you can do for society and the country with your knowledge, talent and capabilities.

CM Yogi informed, "A partnership among four stakeholders - government, university, industry and youth - is essential for the development of the state. The government will create an ecosystem where opportunities for education, investment, research, startups and employment emerge. Universities should generate knowledge and research, with education and research linked to the actual needs of society and industry. Industry should provide opportunities and markets and connect students with opportunities for internships, apprenticeships, employment, research and entrepreneurship. Youth should become a force of innovation and enterprise and transform their knowledge into new ideas, new solutions and new enterprises."

He stated, "When all four work together, the entire country will witness knowledge transforming into innovation, innovation into enterprise, enterprise into employment and employment into economic growth. This is the cycle that can transform the talent of youth into the country's economic progress."

The Chief Minister stated, "Universities should not become islands unto themselves. Instead, they should devote their full strength to fulfilling the needs of society. This can give youth the confidence to become job creators rather than job seekers."

He added that education must be developed in such a way that even young people and farmers in villages can create new value and new income through technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

There is a need for a system in which universities are not merely institutions that award degrees but become engines of knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic transformation. A complete ecosystem should be created from traditional knowledge to modern science, education to innovation, innovation to enterprise, enterprise to employment and employment to the country's economic prosperity.

He said, Uttar Pradesh has no dearth of potential. The state must develop the capacity to transform this potential into possibility and possibility into prosperity. He expressed happiness that Mahayogi Gorakhnath University has taken forward this journey of transformation.

The Chief Minister also recalled the journey from the establishment of Maharana Pratap Shiksha Parishad to the functioning of Mahayogi Gorakhnath University.

He said that during the period of India's subjugation, when the country was beginning to awaken to freedom, Gorakshpeeth, an important centre of India's Rishi tradition, planted a seed in Gorakhpur in 1932 by establishing Maharana Pratap Shiksha Parishad for building the future generation of the country.

Yugpurush Brahmaleen Mahant Digvijaynath Ji Maharaj laid the foundation of the Shiksha Parishad. He donated 2 colleges of the Shiksha Parishad for the establishment of Gorakhpur University, the first university of independent India. Mahant Digvijaynath Ji also established the first women's college in eastern Uttar Pradesh in Gorakhpur and started Uttar Pradesh's first technical institute, Maharana Pratap Polytechnic. Today, Maharana Pratap Shiksha Parishad operates more than 50 educational and training institutions and service projects and is successfully working to fulfil its responsibilities in education, healthcare, service and various other fields. After Brahmaleen Mahant Digvijaynath Ji Maharaj, Brahmaleen Mahant Avaidyanath Ji Maharaj carried forward this responsibility of Gorakshpeeth for a long period.

The Chief Minister said, "Mahayogi Gorakhnath University was inaugurated exactly five years ago by the then President Ram Nath Kovind. However, its foundation had been laid here 12 years earlier."

Welcoming the Chief Minister and other guests at the foundation day ceremony, MGUG Vice Chancellor Lieutenant General Dr Bhupesh Kumar Goyal said, "Gorakshpeeth has remained committed to values for ages. Dissemination of education and upliftment of society has been the resolve of Gorakshpeeth. To fulfil this resolve, Maharana Pratap Shiksha Parishad was established in 1932. Thereafter, one lamp lit another and educational institutions continued to be established one after another. As part of expanding the resolve to serve on a larger scale, Gorakshpeethadhishwar Yogi Adityanath Ji established Mahayogi Gorakhnath University."

He said that within 5 years of its establishment, the number of courses at the university has increased from 12 to 53.

On the occasion, MP Ravi Kishan Shukla, MLA Mahendrapal Singh, former Drugs Controller General of India and current Uttar Pradesh Government Advisor Dr GN Singh, Uttar Pradesh Government Advisor Avnish Awasthi, former University Grants Commission Chairman Prof VN Rajasekharan Pillai, former Vice Chancellor of Health University West Bengal Dr Bhavatosh Biswas, cardiologist from California (USA) Dr Vijay Tiwari, Vice Chancellor of Maa Vindhyavasini University Mirzapur Prof Shobha Gaur, Principal of Shri Gorakhnath Medical College Hospital and Research Centre Dr Varsha M., former MGUG Vice Chancellor Major General Dr Atul Vajpayee, Registrar Dr Pradeep Kumar Rao, along with several public representatives, dignitaries, teachers and a large number of students participated in the programme. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr DS Ajitha, Principal of the Nursing College.

Two Books Released

On the occasion of the fifth foundation day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath released two books published by the university, ‘Nation and Expression’ by English lecturer Dr Anukriti Raj and ‘Amrit Kaal and Nationalism’.

Talents Honoured

At the ceremony, CM Yogi honoured students who performed exceptionally in academic excellence, research work, sports and cultural activities, along with teachers and employees for their outstanding work.

The Best House award was presented to Orange House, while the Best Performer award went to Priyanka Puniya of Yellow House. CM Yogi presented the Best Attendant award to Suryadev Bharti, Best Nurse award to Sarita Kumari, Best Employee award to Shambhavi Dwivedi, Best Officer award to Deputy Registrar Shrikant and Best Teacher award to Dr Sunil Kumar Singh.

He also presented certificates of appreciation to Ayurveda students Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Vineet Singh, Arun Kumar and Prabhakar Verma, who were selected for CCRAS, and MBBS students Akshita Mishra, Om Kumar and Suyash Kumar Sahay, who were selected for ICMR research. Employees Garima Pandey, Aadya Prajapati, Neetu Yadav and Shraddha were also honoured by the Chief Minister for their commendable contribution to medical records.

Before the stage programme, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath planted a sapling on the MGUG campus and conveyed the message of environmental conservation. Following the plantation, the stage programme of the MGUG foundation day ceremony commenced with floral tributes to Maa Saraswati, Bharat Mata, Bhagwan Shri Gorakhnath, Brahmaleen Mahant Digvijaynath and Brahmaleen Mahant Avaidyanath.

On the occasion, the Vice Chancellor felicitated the Chief Minister by presenting him with a memento. The programme concluded with the singing of the national song, Vande Mataram.