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Ayodhya poised to be world’s most magnificent tourist destination: Yogi
The U.P. CM was speaking at an event organised at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), Lucknow, on the occasion of National Youth Day on Jan 12
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said after the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) on January 22, Ayodhya is set to emerge as a highly developed and prominent tourist destination on the global tourism map. “The double-engine government is actively working on the development of religious tourist sites across the state,” he said.
Speaking at an event organised at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) on the occasion of ‘National Youth Day’—the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda—the CM highlighted the transformative changes taking place. He said Uttar Pradesh witnessed over 31.5 crore tourists in the last one year, leading to diverse employment opportunities in the state.
“Previously, even fifty devotees could not stand together in Kashi Vishwanath. With the construction of the corridor, now 50,000 devotees can gather and actively participate in religious events at the sacred site,” he said.
During the event at AKTU, Yogi distributed incentive to startups/incubators under state-level Vivekananda Youth Award and UP Startup Policy and smartphones/tablets under the Swami Vivekananda Youth Empowerment Scheme.
On the occasion, the CM also launched cleanliness campaign-related activities through ‘My Bharat’ portal. Apart from this, he urged the youth and other citizens of the state to participate in the special cleanliness campaign starting from January 14.
“At the age of just 39, Swami Vivekananda showed a new path to the entire world, including India. He gave the message to the youth to ‘Arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached.’ It is crucial for the youth to hold onto this wisdom from Swami Vivekananda,” he said. Highlighting that today Uttar Pradesh is a revenue surplus state, Yogi said, “Now U.P. has all the resources available to give a new flight to the dreams of the youth.”
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the ‘Panch Pran’ mantra to make the country a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. “If we follow these resolutions and do our work with complete honesty, no one will be able to stop India from becoming a major power in the world,” the CM said.
Criticising previous governments, he said, “Before 2017, Uttar Pradesh faced an identity crisis. Those engaged in the ‘politics of familism’ would entice the youth in the name of caste. Upon assuming power, their focus was primarily on the welfare of their own family.”
“India has the highest number of youth in the world and Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of youth in India. In the state, 56 percent of the population is engaged in work, underscoring the need to generate employment opportunities,” the CM said. To achieve this, he stressed the importance of transcending barriers of caste, creed, religion and region.
During the event, CM Yogi distributed tablets to 500 students. Additionally, he distributed a combined financial aid of ₹2.75 crore to two individuals in the startup category and five in the incubator category. Apart from this, under the Vivekananda Youth Award, he honoured 10 young men and women in the individual category with citations and an amount of ₹50,000 each.
Under the Vivekananda Youth Award, the CM recognised the first, second, and third-place Yuvak and Mahila Mangal Dal teams, presenting them with cash awards of ₹one lakh, 50, 000, and 25,000 respectively along with citations.
Technical education minister Ashish Patel; minister of state (independent charge) for sports and youth welfare Girish Chandra Yadav; teachers and students in large numbers were present in the programme.
