LUCKNOW: All praise for Yogi Adityanath government for the way it has been handling COVID-19 in the country’s largest state, PM Narendra Modi applauded the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and his team for saving around 85,000 lives and restricting the toll to just 600 through their diligent, sustained and appropriate efforts.
Addressing a virtual meeting while launching the Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan through video-conferencing in Gonda district on Friday, PM Narendra Modi said had the state government not taken right steps at the right time, the death toll in Uttar Pradesh would have soared to around 85,000 by now.
The employment generation campaign launched by the PM would provide work to 1.25 crore migrants who had been working in other states and lost their jobs during the COVID-mandated lockdown from March 25 to May 31. Around 33 lakh migrants from Uttar Pradesh returned home in distress after losing their livelihood in bigger cities.
This initiative aims at creating job opportunities across 31 districts which are among 116 districts encompassed in the PM Gareeb Kalyan Rojgar Yojna for migrants in six states launched on June 20. These 31 districts of UP have over 35,000 migrant workers who will benefit from the scheme.
Applauding the efforts of state government, the PM said the achievements of Uttar Pradesh were massive as it was not only a state having a population of 24 crore but bigger than many countries across the world.
“UP has managed the pandemic effectively. The figures surprise even the world experts,” said Modi while referring to four nations — the UK, Spain, France and Italy — with a combined population equal to the central Indian state reporting much higher deaths.