SANJAY SINHA: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has trashed as "childish" Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav's charge that he delayed distribution of tablets and smartphones as he cannot operate gadgets himself, and asserted that the state government has been using e-path as part of good governance.
Yadav probably doesn't know that I have been monitoring the functioning of government schemes through an e-dashboard installed in my office as well as residence, the chief minister said.
The government had presented an e-budget last time as well as this time, he told PTI in an interview on board a helicopter in the course of campaigning.
He was responding to Yadav's remarks that "since 'baba mukhya mantri' doesn't know how to operate laptop and tablet he delayed there distribution as part of the the BJP'S 2017 poll promises in the state".
Dubbing it as a childish remark, Adiyanath said Yadav will remain a 'babua' (child) throughout his life and added that "such comments are devoid of sanskar and sanskriti" (value and culture).
Uttar Pradesh has been using Information Technology on a wider scale as part of good governance.
The government has adopted e-tender procedure to end "malpractices" during previous governments when middlemen used to "swallow" larger chunks of the development projects money.
Online monitoring helped the government streamline the public distribution system as well as in effective monitoring of Covid cases, Adityanath said.
Due to widespread use of e-platform, the Uttar Pradesh PDS system is the most transparent in the country, he asserted.
The chief minister said the state government will continue to distribute one crore tablets among the youth as part of its 2017 poll promise.
The Samajwadi Party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission on making available tablets when the model code of conduct was in operation in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
"Let him cry. We will distribute one crore tablets among youth and this figure will double up to two crore after March 10," he said.
Elections are being held in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh and the results will be declared on March 10.