Lucknow, July 2: After the formation of the double-engine government in the state, the common people have been receiving the benefits of all Central Government schemes. This was not the case before 2017, as the previous governments, for political reasons, created hurdles in implementing Central Government schemes. Not only this, attempts were also made to mislead people by giving similar names to several schemes. As a result, the people of Uttar Pradesh remained deprived of many welfare schemes of the Modi government.
Post 2017 Implementation Boost
However, as soon as Yogi Adityanath took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the locks on the Central Government's schemes were opened. This enabled people to receive the benefits of the schemes of both the Central and State governments.
The Central Government had launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana with the resolve to provide a pucca house to every poor person in the country. However, instead of accelerating the implementation of this scheme in Uttar Pradesh, the previous state government attempted to promote its own Samajwadi Awas Yojana and Lohia Gramin Awas Yojana.
Housing Scheme Implementation
Subsequently, allegations were made that the previous government was lax in sending the list of beneficiaries to the Centre and releasing the matching grant (the state's share). The situation was such that under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, from 2014 to 2017, that government could not construct even 50,000 houses. Later, after the Yogi government came to power, this work gathered the pace of a "double engine." In the last nine years, the Yogi government has provided pucca houses to more than 62 lakh families.
To protect farmers from losses caused by natural disasters such as drought, floods, or hailstorms, the Centre launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in 2016. Under this scheme, the State Government was also required to contribute a portion of the premium, and state agencies were expected to play an active role.
Farmer Insurance Coverage
However, due to the indifference of the government before 2017, only about 3 percent of farmers could be insured, leaving farmers in Uttar Pradesh deprived of Central compensation. During the same period, 60-70 percent of farmers in BJP-ruled states had already received its benefits. Under this scheme, during the last nine years of the Yogi government, more than 79 lakh farmers have been paid over Rs 6,283 crore.
Launched in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission was one of Prime Minister Modi's biggest dream projects, aimed at making the country Open Defecation Free (ODF). Under this scheme, funds for the construction of toilets were to be released by the Centre, but the state was required to submit utilisation certificates and determine its share. The previous government showed no interest in the publicity and implementation of this scheme. It opposed the branding of the scheme because it considered it a BJP scheme. As a result, between 2014 and 2017, the pace of toilet construction in Uttar Pradesh remained extremely slow, and the state lagged far behind in the ODF rankings.
Sanitation Progress Achieved
By March 2017, rural sanitation coverage in Uttar Pradesh had reached only around 35 percent. Not a single district in the state had been declared completely Open Defecation Free. On the other hand, after the Yogi government came to power in 2017, more than 3.31 crore toilets have been constructed across the state under Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin. Subsequently, Uttar Pradesh was declared a 100 percent ODF state under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin). More than 94,000 villages were also declared ODF Plus with solid and liquid waste management systems. All this seemed almost impossible in 2017.
During the tenure of the previous government, only a very small number of women received free connections (cylinder and regulator). Among them too, nearly 35-40 percent of families did not refill their second cylinder after the first one was exhausted because, at that time, the State Government did not provide any additional financial assistance or subsidy top-up for refilling.
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LPG Scheme Expansion
On the other hand, working together, the Yogi government and the Central Government have provided the benefit of free LPG connections to about 1.86 crore women in the state over the last nine years. In addition, two cylinders are being refilled free of cost on Holi and Deepawali.
