Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that ten rivers were being revived in Uttar Pradesh with the help of people and the project was being financed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

On Friday, the Chief Minister held a meeting with Vice-Chairman of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog Rajiv Kumar.

Yogi said that the people of the state were also stakeholders in the ambitious programme of the state government. He said that the revival of ten rivers would go a long way in addressing the problem of water scarcity in certain pockets of the state, especially during summers.

The Chief Minister said that the state government had been able to create a positive environment for investment and development of UP.

“Besides promoting investment in the state, the government is also working on providing running water facility in each household in Bundelkhand region.” he said.

Yogi Adityanath said that under the water conservation programme, old wells and ponds were being revived through various schemes like MGNREGA involving the people to combat water crisis in Bundelkhand.

“Besides, rain harvesting has been made compulsory in the state,” he said.

The Chief Minister said besides investment and improving infrastructure, the government was also pursuing welfare programmes for the masses. He said that 1.18 crore people had been benefited so far by the Centrally-sponsored Ayushman health protection scheme. “Those left out have been covered by the CM Jan Arogya Yojana,” he informed the NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman.

Yogi Adityanath also informed Rajiv Kumar about eight districts in the state where there was sufficient space for development. The Chief Minister also discussed tourism opportunities at Sarnath (Varanasi) and stressed the need to invest in tourism industry.

On the medical and health front, Yogi Adityanath said the UP government had sent a proposal to the Centre for opening 14 new medical colleges in the state to address the problem of shortage of doctors and medical amenities in rural areas.

The Minister further said that the state government wanted to have at least one medical college between two districts.

“If the proposal is endorsed by the Centre, then it will not only increase the number of medical colleges, but also go a long way in addressing the problem of shortage of doctors in the state,” Yogi Adityanath said.