Once described as BIMARU, UP has transformed itself as the country’s growth engine, says CM Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has attacked previous governments for alleged irregularities, nepotism and corruption in recruitment. File | Photo credit: ANI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday (Sep 20, 2026) hit out at previous governments over alleged irregularities, nepotism and corruption in recruitment, saying those who “turned Uttar Pradesh into a BIMARU state” have no right to question the government’s record so far.

“Once described as a BIMARU state, Uttar Pradesh has now become a revenue surplus state and the growth engine of the country. Whereas in the past the state was considered a failure due to corruption and nepotism,” Mr. Adityanath said at the closing ceremony of the two-day ‘Prerna Vimarsh-2026’ in Greater Noida.

The UP CM added that the state government was prioritizing women in its programmes. “In Uttar Pradesh, there are 54,000 correspondent banking Sakhis providing village banking services,” Mr. Adityanath said.

He cited the Balinee Milk Producer Company in Jhansi, which started with five women in 2019 and now has 62,000 women associated with it. “Its turnover is ₹115 crore and each woman earns ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 a month. Milk producer groups are also working in Agra, Kashi, Gorakhpur and Lucknow. About four million women are associated with these groups,” he said.

Mr. Adityanath added that in 2017, there were only 10,000 women in the Uttar Pradesh Police, while their number has now increased to 44,000. 000 out of 8,000 Nyaya Panchayats,” he said.

The Chief Minister said, “Uttar Pradesh has the largest youth population in India and 56 percent of the state’s population is youth. In the last nine and a half years, the government has provided government jobs to 9.5 million youth. Around 3.25 million youth are working in 96 thousand MSME units. With better security measures, the state has received more investment proposals worth R$ 5 million. 15 million crores have been implemented on the ground, providing employment more than 65 million young people.

He said that before 2017, there were less than 120 startups in Uttar Pradesh, while now the number has crossed 24,000. About half of them are run by women. Referring to Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, Thakur Roshan Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Veer Savarkar, he urged the youth to draw inspiration from national heroes.

Published – 21 Sep 2026 02:20 IST