Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that his government was committed to empowerment of women because the Bharatiya Janata Party believed that a country could progress only if the women were educated and had social security.

"Our government has taken several measures to provide social security to women in the form of 1090 Women Power Line and 181 Women Helpline. Besides, anti-Romeo squad has been set up to instil confidence among women," Yogi said while addressing a function here on Friday.

He said women were now holding important posts in the government and private sectors.

"Lok Sabha Speaker, Foreign Minister and Defence Minister of India are women. Girls have performed exceedingly well in the field of sport. This is a welcome sign. But much more is needed to be done and this will be possible only if the women get full support from society," the Chief Minister said, adding that the need of the hour was to bring this positive change in society.

"The governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh are working in tandem to bring a qualitative change in the lives of the fairer sex. The government has launched Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme. Under the Ujjwala Yojana, efforts have been made to safeguard the health of women by introducing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in their lives. The biggest achievement is construction of toilets," the Chief Minister said.

He said the previous governments had damaged the system badly and he was trying to bring it back on rails.

The Chief Minister also talked about the government's scheme to speed up paddy purchase. "This year, the government has announced MSP (minimum support price) of Rs 1,770 per quintal for paddy with an additional Rs 20 per quintal for cleaning. Similarly, the UP government has announced MSP for maize for the first time. The target is to purchase one lakh metric tonnes of maize," he said.