CM Yogi hands over keys of houses built on land captured by Atiq Ahmad

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday handed over keys of houses built on land freed from the "illegal" possession of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to 76 beneficiaries.

Ahmad along with his brother Ashraf was shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists during a media interaction in April.

Addressing the event, Adityanath said the previous government stood with the mafia when it came to freeing the land of the poor.

"I will ask all the development authorities to build houses for the poor on the land freed from the mafia so that the poor can get shelter and their faith in the government will increase," he said.

Adityanath said 54 lakh poor people in the state have been allotted houses under PMAY in the past six years and 10 lakh more houses will be allotted soon.

"Six years ago, not a single poor person used to get a house under this scheme. The poor did not get houses because the state government at that time did not want to think about them. The central government used to write letters to provide accommodation, but the state government did not want to take the houses," he said.

According to a Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) official, four-storey towers housing 1 BHK flats have been built in the Lukarganj area here.

Each flat costs Rs 6 lakh and the beneficiaries paid Rs 3.5 lakh. The central government paid Rs 1.5 lakh, while the state government paid Rs 1 lakh for every house, the official said.

Each flat has a balcony, electricity, sewerage and parking facility.

Adityanath also inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 226 development projects worth Rs 768 crore at the event.

Speaking about the Global Investors Summit held in Lucknow earlier this year, Adityanath said, "Investment proposals worth Rs 36 lakh crore were received during the event. One crore people will get jobs from this investment."

Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said, "This is the time when we should not be misled by anyone. This country is not run by slogans but by the ground reality and this ground reality has been shown by Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi."

On Maurya's suggestion, Adityanath directed the PDA and the district administration to prepare a detailed project report to build a convention centre with a seating capacity of 10,000 in Prayagraj.

State minister Nand Gopal Gupta, MPs Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Keshari Devi Patel, Allahabad West MLA Siddharth Nath Singh and Mayor Ganesh Kesarwani were also present at the event.