Lucknow metro to start before 2017 Assembly polls: CM

The first phase of the ambitious Lucknow metro project in Union Minister Rajnath Singh's Lok Sabha constituency, would be completed before the 2017 state Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said today.
"The work on Metro project in the parliamentary constituency of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is going on at a high speed and the process for Metro in the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also underway," Yadav said at a function here to unveil the uniform for the staff of the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC).
Noting that the state was fortunate as a number of metro projects were going on here, Yadav said besides Lucknow, other cities like Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra and Meerut will also have metros.

No other states adjoining Uttar Pradesh have such a proposal, he said.
Unveiling the uniform for LMRC staff designed by NIFT, Rae Bareli, Yadav took credit for speeding up the project claiming that the Lucknow Metro will take half the time of what Jaipur Metro took.
On the occasion, he tied the knot of a tie of the uniform over his kurta and asked diapasons to wear the tie for the inaugural run next year.
Speaking at the function, state Health Minister Ahmed Hasan praised Yadav for making the functioning of health department transparent through digital records, which helped in transfers of which 500 clerks of the department although all records were burnt in a massive fire.

Yadav also lauded the MoU signed between the state government and Smile Parks Industries Limited for setting up 25 food and agriculture parks in rural areas in the next five years. An investment of Rs 3,125 crore would be made in the food parks, he added.