Gorakhpur: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that six years ago goons and mafia used to openly threaten businessmen and kidnap them and Uttar Pradesh was known for riots and anarchy, but all such elements have been silenced today.
Addressing a gathering after performing Bhoomi Poojan and laying the foundation stone of Messers Varun Beverages, a franchisee of multinational company PepsiCo, to be built at the cost of Rs 1,071 crore at the industrial corridor being built near Gorakhpur Link Expressway in Sector 27 of Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority (GIDA), Yogi said that the security of investors and their capital is guaranteed in the state today.
He said that everyone’s safety is the responsibility of the government and it is the government’s resolve to bring prosperity in the lives of the citizens. “This year, when riots were taking place in some states of the country during Ram Navami celebrations, there was absolute peace in UP. 33 lakh people visited Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Shri Ram, and more than 1,000 processions were taken out on the occasion, but no untoward incident took place. Instead, Hindus and Muslims showered flowers on the processions,” he said.
The CM said that on April 6, on the occasion of Hanuman Janmotsava, more than 500 processions were taken out peacefully in the state. He said that in UP, bombs are no longer hurled at processions during religious festivals and it has been replaced by showering of flowers.
He said that 25 crore people of UP today believe in the double engine government which promotes development, investment and employment. “Because of this belief that UP has received investment proposals worth Rs 35 lakh crore in the Global Investors Summit. The CM Office itself monitors all the online facilities and incentives for the investors,” he said.
Yogi said that UP today boasts of excellent connectivity of all kinds. “Purvanchal and Bundelkhand Expressway have become functional while work is underway on Ganga Expressway. By the time this plant is ready, the Gorakhpur Link Expressway will also be completed. Four-lane connectivity has been provided till Nepal, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand,” he said.
He said that due to excellent connectivity from Gorakhpur, the products of Varun Beverages would reach Lucknow in three hours and Varanasi in two hours. He said that Gorakhpur has excellent rail connectivity while a waterway facility is available from Varanasi.
The CM said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intention is to increase the income of farmers manifold and by supplying fruits like mango, guava, litchi and milk to the plant of Varun Beverages, farmers and livestock farmers will be able to multiply their earning. “The plant in Gorakhpur will provide employment to 1500 youths whereas 10,000 villagers will be linked to an additional source of income. When three more plants of Varun Beverages will be set up in UP, 6.000 youths will get employment and 50,000 villagers will get additional income,” he said.
He appealed to all industrial organisations, including Varun Beverages, to take the initiative ahead of time to create skilled manpower. “There are four universities, hundreds of colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnics and ITIs in Gorakhpur. Youths should be trained as per the requirement of the industry so that there is no shortage of skilled manpower at the time of starting the industry. The youth will also not have to go outside for employment,” he said.
Yogi said that the Gorakhpur fertilizer factory dedicated to skilled manpower a year ago by PM Modi is producing at 110 percent capacity. “To make the youth technically competent, the government is providing tablet-smart phones to 2 crore youth. The government is also giving half the honorarium for the apprenticeship,” he said.
CM Yogi also planted saplings on the proposed plant premises after performing Bhoomi Pujan amid chanting of Vedic hymns.
