Samriddhi 2025: UP riding high on improved law and order, say top ministers

UP's ministers say improved law and order under the Yogi government has powered rapid growth across sectors-from transport and tourism to health, education and revenue mobilisation

More than eight years since the Yogi Adityanath government assumed office, Uttar Pradesh is reaping the benefits of improved law and order that has translated into high growth across all sectors, be it transport, finance, tourism, or even health and education, said top state ministers on Wednesday at the flagship Business Standard ‘Samriddhi’ event here. 

Delivering the keynote address, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said that the biggest challenge for them when they assumed office in 2017 was infrastructure development, for which revenues were needed. But revenue would come only if law and order improved. However, in contrast, the state was under the vicious grip of organised mafias, sponsored gangs, and anarchy. Not only that, basic amenities such as electricity, mid-day meals for children, and road infrastructure were in shambles. 

“Our government gradually got rid of each of these problems in the past more than eight years, and slowly law and order improved, student enrolment in schools rose, and basic amenities such as roads, electricity, and hospitals grew, which resulted in the all-round development of the state,” said Pathak.

 

He said that in schools, enrolment rose from 11.2 million to 19 million, cheating mafias were brought under control, and around 800,000 new government jobs were created without favour or nepotism.

 

“The number of medical colleges in the state has now doubled to almost 81 in both public and private sectors, of which more than 40 were added in the past eight years,” said Pathak.

 

That’s not all -- the number of primary health centres, district hospitals, and community health centres has shown an exponential rise. “Currently, we are providing almost 400 medicines free of cost in state government health centres, which in 2017 was just a few hundred when we assumed office,” he said.

 

He said UP was brought out of a ‘Jungle Raj’ due to the efficient administration of the Yogi Adityanath government.

 

Citing an example of how the state has transformed, Pathak said that on the last New Year’s Day, almost 1.5 times more tourists were present in Kashi than were in Goa.

 

“On one hand, due to efforts made by the state government, the GDP of the state improved and growth happened, but more than anything, the confidence of the people of Uttar Pradesh rose,” Pathak said.

 

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh’s Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Excise and Prohibition, Nitin Agarwal, who delivered the inaugural address, said that the state’s revenue from excise has increased nearly four times in the last eight and a half years of the Yogi Adityanath-led government -- from a little over ₹14,000 crore in 2016-17 to ₹52,573 crore in 2024-25, and is on course to be almost ₹63,000 crore by the end of the current financial year.

 

He said that in 2017, the GSDP was ₹13.3 trillion, which has increased to ₹30 trillion, and by the end of this financial year, the state’s target is to increase it to ₹35 trillion.

 

He said the manufacturing sector contributed ₹2.81 trillion to the state’s gross value addition, more than a two-and-a-half-times increase from the 2017 level.

 

State Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh and Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh, in their discussions, said that Uttar Pradesh is crafting a new story in the transport and tourism sectors by actively scouting private sector participation in modernising its 54 bus depots, connecting 12,800 villages through regular bus service, controlling pollution through a fleet of electric buses, and offering enhanced subsidies for setting up not only large five-star hotels but even small homestays.

 

The ‘Samriddhi’ event included two high-powered panel discussions attended by top bureaucrats, academicians, businessmen, and members of the intelligentsia of the state, all of whom said that improved law and order is a big boon for their growth and prosperity in the state.