Will form policy to attract industries, says Akhilesh

Lucknow: Accusing the previous BSP Government of leaving Uttar Pradesh’s exchequer “empty”, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said an industrial policy to attract industries would be formulated. Akhilesh lashed out at the Mayawati government for leaving the economy in a “very bad shape” and termed his budget aimed at bringing prosperity in the state. An industrial policy would be formulated to attract industries, Akhilesh told the Vidhan Sabha today. Citing the case of states like Uttarakhand and Haryana, he said that he also wanted to bring more employment opportunities for the people but no auto industry has come to UP as the economic situation is not such that they (auto industry) could be attracted with concessions. [caption id=“attachment_337318” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“An industrial policy would be formulated to attract industries, Akhilesh told. PTI”]  [/caption] Akhilesh also recalled how the SP government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav had brought a sugar policy which led to setting up of several mills, but during the BSP government they were sold. The chief minister said though the BSP government did not bring a single industry it got the Formula one race organised in the state. Akhilesh, however, had a word of praise for the BJP led NDA government’s road policy as being in “national interest”. Citing figures of the arrears pending which the present government would have to be taken care of, Akhilesh alleged that BSP government had left the exchequer “empty”. Replying to the debate on the budget tabled by him last week, Yadav highlighted the problems related to power, roads and health services among others and blamed the past five years of the BSP rule for it. Referring to the Opposition BSP’s criticism that there had been a cut in the budget for departments related to people welfare, he said it had only been in areas like civil aviation where the earlier government had already spent more than required. “There is also no budget for memorials and stone structures, and the park that we plan to set up in the name of Janeshwar Misra would be a green one,” he said referring to the memorials made by the previous government and made a dig at BSP saying Kanshi Ram Smarak in Lucknow also has many “ashtdhatu” statues of animals. “Crores have been wasted on these memorials which are lying empty,” he said adding that there was also no concern for the environment as thousands of trees were fell for facilitating their construction. He also brought the Centre in dock for allegedly giving NOC to memorial in Noida. “Memorial in Noida, worth Rs 700 crores, could not have come up without the NOC from Centre,” he alleged. Stressing on the priority areas of his government, he said farmers’ problems would be addressed and storage capacity would be increased. Terming the problem of power as the most serious one, Yadav again criticised the BSP government for merely signing MOUs and making no effort for arranging coal linkages. “Besides bringing a new solar policy, we will also look into the option of running the power houses with foreign coal with the permission of the house,” the chief minister said. He assured that power tariff of farmers and domestic consumers would not be increased. Referring to his party’s promise of providing laptops for which budgetary provisions have been made, Akhilesh said it was in the interest of youth. The chief minister said Congress should not oppose this scheme as the central government was also expanding optical fibre lines upto the village level and it would not serve the purpose without the expansion of computer network. Promising to improve the condition of roads, he said that PPP model would be pursued but not like the BSP government which had reached an agreement for several projects but the compensation would have to be paid by the present government. On the issue of renaming Ambedkar village programme after Dr. Lohia, he said now villages would be picked up for development on the basis of backwardness and not on caste and communal lines. Alleging that “happiness tax” was being charged in all the departments in the BSP government, he also promised to start the various medical colleges which were not started by the BSP government. On the law and order front, the chief minister said that in the very first cabinet meeting he had decided to set up CCTVs cameras at important spots to check crime and also promised that good and honest officers would be posted at key positions. “Officials would also have to be brought under control as some are still following the wrong practises,” he said adding his government has decided to hold more sittings of the House so that it can get positive suggestions of the members. The chief minister also assured that the demands of members regarding their development funds and other facilities would be looked into after the passage of the Budget. Earlier Parliamentary affairs minister Azam Khan gave an emotional speech in the House alleging harassment during the BSP government. PTI