Hailing the Yogi Adityanath administration, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder Melinda Gates said that the work done by Uttar Pradesh in recent years for COVID-19 management and control of diseases like encephalitis was exemplary and the world should learn from UP.
“Amidst the challenges of COVID-19, the way the state leadership tackled the issue of dense population and various social challenges is highly commendable. The world should learn from the way vaccination was carried out in UP despite having such a large and dense population,” she said during her meeting with Yogi Adityanath here on Wednesday.
She said work done by the UP government in the areas of health security, financial inclusion, nutrition, education, and women empowerment was inspiring.
“Uttar Pradesh is a model not only for India, but for the whole world,” she said.
Discussing the Foundation's deep ties with Uttar Pradesh, Melinda Gates said: “We have been working here for a long time in the field of health and social security. We are able to provide facilities to the weakest section of society. We intend to further improve our relations with UP in the coming times.
Melinda Gates said that there were immense possibilities of development in Uttar Pradesh. She said the work done for the betterment of infrastructure in the past few years was unprecedented. “The development of Uttar Pradesh is wonderful and its direction is right,” she added.
The chief minister said that he had closely seen the works of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which had made a commendable contribution in the field of health and nutrition. He said UP received logistics and technical support from the Foundation amidst the challenges of COVID-19. “We are grateful to the Foundation for this gesture,” Yogi said.
The chief minister said that Uttar Pradesh had achieved satisfactory success in the field of health and nutrition in recent years. He said about 95 per cent of the deaths of innocent children caused by encephalitis had been controlled.
“There has been unprecedented improvement in Uttar Pradesh in the field of health and nutrition. On many parameters, our performance is better than the national average. There has been a decline in the maternal and infant mortality rates in UP. At the same time efforts are being made in mission mode for vaccination of children in the country through campaigns like Mission Indradhanush,” Yogi said.
Referring to the efforts and results of Mission Shakti in Uttar Pradesh for women empowerment, the chief minister said that this campaign focused on three things -- women's safety, honour and self-reliance.
“Twenty per cent posts in police recruitment have been reserved for women. Today, women beat constables have been deployed in every gram panchayat of the state. Along with providing security to the people, the female cops also raise public awareness. Panic buttons have been installed in the public transport system to strengthen women's safety,” he said.
“This campaign of the state government has also received appreciation from the Central government. Schemes like Banking Sakhi have not only strengthened financial inclusion in villages, but have also been instrumental in women’s empowerment. Women's voluntary groups are working to solve the problem of malnutrition,” Yogi said.
Overwhelmed by the efforts of women empowerment in Uttar Pradesh, Melinda Gates praised the policies of the UP government. She said that due to the efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the self-confidence of women would increase and leadership potential would be developed in them. “In this way, these women will be able to play an important role in the development of the country and the state. These efforts have proved that women too can lead,” she added.
The chief minister also invited Melinda Gates and her colleagues to participate in the proposed Global Investors’ Summit to be held in the state from February 10 to 12, 2023.
