Mounting a scathing attack on the Yogi Adityanath government, she said that the chief minister was working against the principles of Guru Gorakhnath…reports Asian Lite News.
Continuing her series of ‘pratigya’ (promises), Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Sunday, announced that if the Congress came to power in Uttar Pradesh, 20 lakh youths would be given jobs, women would get the facility of free bus travel and fishing would be given the status of farming.
“The Nishad community will have rights over rivers and sand mining. We will also set up a university in the name of Guru Matsyendranath (Guru of Gorakhnath),” she said while speaking at a Pratigya rally in Gorakhpur.
She further announced that if the Congress came to power, the ad hoc and contract workers would be regularised and the purchase price of wheat and paddy would be raised to Rs 2,500 while sugarcane MSP would be Rs 400.
“Women will be given three free gas cylinders in a year and treatment up to Rs 10 lakh would be free for all. Besides, we will ensure full loan waiver for farmers. ASHA workers would be given an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month,” she added.
Priyanka said that India was a nation that survived on faith. “We have faith in the earth, faith in religion, faith in our labour and faith in our leaders. We have faith in what the leaders say and when huge advertisements tell us that development has arrived, we begin to wonder. Time has come to question our leaders and ask them where is the development,” she said.
Mounting a scathing attack on the Yogi Adityanath government, she said that the chief minister was working against the principles of Guru Gorakhnath.
“Amit Shah said that law and order in UP is perfect. In Lakhimpur, his party leaders mowed down farmers. In Gorakhpur, the police killed businessman Manish Gupta. In Lucknow, an executive Vivek Tiwari was shot dead by policemen and in Unnao one girl was raped and set on fire while another was raped and an attempt was made to kill her in an accident. You do not need a binocular to see the reality but a good pair of spectacles,” she said.
Priyanka berated the Modi government and said that they had promised to enable a person with ‘hawai chappal’ to travel by air. “But travelling by road has become impossible due to rising fuel prices.
The Prime Minister flies to Italy in his Rs 8,000 crore aircraft but in UP farmers die waiting in queues for fertilizer. A farmer’s income is Rs 27 per day but his businessmen friends earn Rs 1,000 crore per day,” she said.
Priyanka said that politics would change drastically if more women came in.
She ended her speech with ‘Jai Guru Matsyendranath’ and ‘Jai Guru Gorakhnath’ — both spiritual gurus of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“About 10,000 to 12,000 villagers would benefit from the sub-centre. It should be repaired and functional as soon as possible,” added Raja Singh…reports Bilal A Khan
Shankar Ram and Manisha Singh, a married couple from Jarai Kalan village, were delighted at the birth of their baby boy on September 5 this year. Since there weren’t any adequate medical facilities in their village or those nearby, the couple had stayed in their grandmother’s place in Maya Bazar, Faizabad, until the delivery. The baby was born at a private hospital there, and after being discharged, the family returned to the village.
However, their happiness was short-lived when the baby suddenly developed a fever within a few hours of their return. The new parents ran from one hospital to another seeking treatment, but their frantic efforts ended in tragedy as their barely two-day-old infant died in the district hospital in Faizabad, about 50 kilometres away from their village. “The roads are so bad that it takes almost two and a half hours to reach there from the village,” said Ram.
A harrowing ordeal
“We first called the doctor at the hospital where our baby was born. He suggested that we consult a child specialist. Where could we find one when we don’t even have a proper healthcare facility in the village?” questioned Ram.
Recalling the ordeal, he said: “I hired a Bolero car and visited the Haliyapur Primary Health Centre (PHC) first. They don’t have any (good) facilities. We then went to the private hospital where my baby was born. But it was late in the night, so they turned us away due to the unavailability of doctors. We then rushed to Faizabad district hospital. There, after an hour and a half, my child was declared dead. The reason for his death is not yet clear, but we have lost our first and only child.”
The Haliyapur PHC is about 3.5 km from the village.
Ram believes that his child could have been saved had there been a functional health facility in the village.
“A healthcare sub-centre is available in the village, but it has been in severe disrepair for years. Doctors do not work here because of the dilapidated building. I could have saved my child if the healthcare centre had been equipped with the necessary facilities. It was just a high temperature which could have been treated by immediate medical attention,” said Ram, grieving the loss of his child.
A sub-health centre or sub-centre provides an interface with the community at the grass-root level, providing all the primary healthcare services for a maximum of 5,000 people. Staffed with at least one auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) or health worker, the sub-centres are meant to have maternal and child healthcare services and trained nurses for delivery and childcare.
More tales of misery
Ram and his wife are not the only couple to have lost their newborn child due to the unavailability of medical facilities in the village. Raja Singh, who looks after all the responsibilities of the village pradhan, said that the sub-centre has been non-functional for more than 15 years now. “The village has lost about 150 newborn children, including babies who died in-utero due to the healthcare centre being defunct,” Singh informed 101Reporters.
Phul Kali (55), from the neighbouring village Pure Basu (which falls under the Jarai Kalan gram panchayat), lost her daughter’s unborn child two years ago because of the absence of a medical centre in the village. Before they could reach any hospital, she went into labour, and the baby’s head slipped out, resulting in a stillbirth.
“The nearest hospital we have is Haliyapur PHC. But to get there, we need a vehicle because there is no public transport facility in the village. We survive on irregular wages doing manual labour. How can we afford any vehicle? Ambulances have no fixed time to arrive. If they are far away, they take a lot of time. We somehow managed a vehicle for my daughter, but when we were on the way to the PHC, we lost the baby,” Phul told 101Reporters. She claimed they had to spend lakhs on treatment after the baby died in her daughter’s womb.
Phul decried the state of affairs, saying, “If the healthcare centre in the village were working, I would be playing with my grandchild now. This medical centre needs to be opened as soon as possible, or else we poor people will continue losing children.”
Another couple from the village, Anand and Pooja Tiwari, also lost their newborn baby girl on June 3 this year. “We were happy to see that our baby was healthy. We were able to pay the bill of Rs 12,000; We opted for a private hospital because we wanted our baby healthy and alive,” said Tiwari, who works as a driver and earns around Rs 6,000 a month.
However, their baby developed respiratory problems. “In just half an hour, we lost our child. We did not have time to see doctors as the hospitals are far away,” said Tiwari. “We would have got immediate medical attention if the village had any healthcare facility. The absence of healthcare centres has been causing us huge problems for years,” he added, saying that he tried to seek the local ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker’s help for his child, but to no avail.
“We have been requesting pradhans for years, but they say that there is no budget to repair the sub-centre. Nobody sees or understands our plight,” said Jogi Ram, a resident.
Picture of official apathy
The sub-centre in the village is so derelict that its doors and windows are broken and the walls could fall at any time. “Because of the building condition, the doctors posted here don’t visit the hospital at all,” said Raja Singh. He further said that five villages come under the Jarai Kalan gram panchayat and are under five kilometres from the health centre.
“About 10,000 to 12,000 villagers would benefit from the sub-centre. It should be repaired and functional as soon as possible,” added Raja Singh.
Rekha Maurya, the ANM posted at the sub-centre, confirmed that it cannot function without proper renovation. “The building is so run-down that we can’t risk our lives sitting there. Despite the pathetic condition of the building, the government has not provided any facility here,” said Rekha. She added, “I have been requesting officials for months, but they have only given us promises that it will be restored and open for villagers soon.”
With just one sub-centre to cater to five villages’ medical needs and emergencies, it has become imperative for concerned authorities to prioritise the complete renovation and installation of a fully functional health centre. However, the government continues to pass the buck at the cost of more infant fatalities.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Sultanpur said that he has already sent estimates for restoration work of the sub-centre on May 25, 2021, to the government. “We have 12-15 sub-centres across the district that are in bad condition amongst 115 centres. I have sent the estimates to the state government for repair works for all dilapidated centres, but I am yet to hear any response on it,” the CMO said.
Priyanka said the decision was for the woman named Paro, who had held her hand in Prayagraj and had said that she wanted to join politics…reports Asian Lite News.
In a major decision that could prove to be a game-changer for the Congress, in particular and, Indian politics, in general, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Tuesday, announced that her party would give 40 per cent tickets to women in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
She said that all women who want to bring about a change in the system, are welcome to come forward and contest elections.
“Any woman who wants to contest can give an application till October 15,” she announced at a press conference.
Priyanka said the decision was for the woman named Paro, who had held her hand in Prayagraj and had said that she wanted to join politics.
“This decision is for Vaishnavi in Chandauli and the sisters-in-law of two rape victims of Hathras and Unnao, who are fighting for justice and against the system.
“This is for every woman who wants to be heard — whether it is Laxmi Valmiki of Lucknow who wants to be a doctor, the daughter of journalist Raman Kashyap who was killed in Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
“This is also for two women constables — Madhu and Pooja, who arrested me in Sitapur and were with me till 4.a.m. Power today amounts to trampling over the weaker sections of society, primarily women,” Priyanka said.
She said that women were not only stronger but more compassionate and sensitive and could bring a change in the political system.
Asked whether the same formula of 40 per cent reservation for women would be extended to the Congress-ruled states, including Punjab, Priyanka said, “I am in charge of UP and we have taken this decision here. If they (Punjab), they are welcome to implement the formula.”
She said that women were being divided on the basis of caste which weakened their battle for justice.
“A woman’s struggle is not limited to a gas cylinder or Rs 2,000. It goes beyond that. We have to rise above the shackles of casteism and communalism and come together as a group,” she said.
Priyanka, when asked whether wives and daughters of leaders would not take advantage of this reservation, said, “What is wrong with that if it leads to empowerment. In Amethi, a village pradhan’s wife contested and won elections. After some months, he met me and said that his wife has started making decisions in the house as well. This is empowerment.”
She said the Congress would help women fight elections and next time, they will be stronger. She further said that the candidates would be decided on the basis of merit.
Priyanka, however, parried questions about the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and whether she would contest elections.
“These issues will be decided later and we will let you know,” she stated.
Talking about the opposition onslaught on her, Priyanka said, “The other parties should get more creative when they attack me. Political tourist and Twitter leader have become stale,” she said.
The state is also close to administering 11 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses, leading the country’s inoculation drive against the virus…reports Asian Lite News.
Nearly 40 per cent of Uttar Pradesh is now Covid-19 free and the state government has declared that out of the total 75 districts, the active caseload in 31 of them has come down to zero.
The total active caseload in the entire state was also recorded at a further low of just 159 active cases as of Sunday.
About 21 districts of the state are now left with a single active case each.
The districts with zero active Covid cases include Amethi, Amroha, Baghpat, Ballia, Balrampur, Etah, Farrukhabad, Fatehpur, Ghazipur, Gonda, Hamirpur, Hapur, Hardoi, Hathras, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur, Kasganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mainpuri, Mau, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Shravasti, Varanasi, Sitapur and Unnao.
In the past 24 hours, the state reported 13 fresh Covid cases with seven patients recovering from the disease.
The overall positivity rate in Uttar Pradesh now stands at 2.16 per cent, while the recovery rate is at 98.8 per cent.
“The fresh cases have declined by more than 38,000 from its peak which was 38,055 on April 24. The state has also been able to restrict the daily Covid case-count below 50 for over 50 days in a row,” said an official release.
The state is also close to administering 11 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses, leading the country’s inoculation drive against the virus.
‘Covid vaccine for children by December’
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Minister for Health K. Sudhakar has announced that Covid-19 vaccines in the form of nasal drops for children would mostly be available by the month of November or December.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi after his meeting with Union Minister for Health Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday, Sudhakar said that the Central government is negotiating the price of Covid-19 vaccines for children with Zydus Cadila company which has developed the jab.
If these negotiations are fruitful, the vaccine for children should be available by the month of November and December in the state of Karnataka, he said.
“In the meeting with the Union Health Minister, this matter was discussed,” the state Minister added.
Sudhakar maintained that it was not possible to predict the third wave in the state, saying: “We have to see who situation unfolds in the months of November and December. However, we have taken all precautions and stringent restrictions are still in place despite the pressure from neighbouring states of Kerala and Maharashtra.”
Karnataka is also discussing administering booster shots for those who have taken two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. But, no decision is being made in this regard, according to the Minister.
He opined that the state government should have taken a decision to open primary classes for the students of the first standard to fifth standards by this time.
“In my opinion, children have more immunity power compared to others. After the Dussehra festival, the government will hold a meeting with experts and take a decision in this regard.”
She asked her party leaders and workers to reach out to the people and effectively convey the party’s points, besides strongly countering any vicious propaganda…reports Asian Lite News.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has urged party cadres to campaign aggressively and counter the BJP-RSS propaganda fearlessly on social media platforms.
Priyanka, who is taking back-to-back meetings during her five-day stay in Lucknow, said it was essential to counter the anti-Congress propaganda being carried out on the social media by non-Congress parties.
She asked her party leaders and workers to reach out to the people and effectively convey the party’s points, besides strongly countering any vicious propaganda.
Without naming any party, she said that the non-Congress rule in the past 32 years in Uttar Pradesh, had taken the state on the path of decline.
Though she did not name any political party directly, her reference to the BJP, SP and BSP was obvious as she referred to 32-year rule of non-Congress parties that had taken the state on the path of decline.
“We need to bring out the truth,” she said referring to campaigns based on spreading hatred and lies.
Priyanka, who has been taking meetings mostly at Kaul House, where she is staying, is expected to spend five days a week -Mondays to Fridays – in Lucknow.
She will launch the Congress campaign with a rally in Varanasi in the second week of October, after ‘Pitra Paksh’ ends.
The Congress is also preparing to launch ‘Pratigya Yatras’ on four different routes on October 17. Through these yatras, party leaders had been asked to convey the promises the party proposed to make to the people in the 2022 Assembly elections.
The party proposes to hold a rally at Meerut on October 20 and a mega public rally is likely to be held in Lucknow on November 19, the birth anniversary of late Indira Gandhi.
आज उप्र कांग्रेस के सोशल मीडिया विभाग के योद्धाओं से संवाद किया।
सोशल मीडिया के योद्धा पूरी ताकत से भाजपा सरकार के झूठ का पर्दाफाश कर रहे हैं और उनकी दमदार व ऊर्जावान उपस्थिति से उप्र में कांग्रेस पार्टी बदलाव की एक महत्वपूर्ण आवाज बनकर उभर रही है। pic.twitter.com/8VJmVZipO9
An aggressive campaign to reach out to the people by going door to door is likely to be launched after the Lucknow rally.
As the Congress has launched micro plans for every assembly constituency.
The party has given indications that the first list of candidates will be out by the second week of October. A preliminary meeting of the screening committee was also held on Thursday.
A number of delegations have also met Priyanka and these include delegations of weavers, banjara, Rajbhar and Nishad communities.
The Yogi Adityanath government has taken a firm stand against forcible and illegal religious conversions in the state…reports Asian Lite News.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi and Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad have come out in support of Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Mohd Iftikharuddin, who is being invested on charges of religious conversions.
Owaisi alleged that the BJP government in the state was targeting Muslims for political mileage.
Owaisi said, “The UP government set up an SIT to ‘investigate’ a six-year-old video of a senior IAS officer. The video has been taken out of context and is from a time when this government was not in power. This is blatant and targeted harassment based on religion.”
Accusing the BJP government of double standards, he further said, “If the parameter is that no officer should be connected to religious activity, then prohibit use of all religious symbols/images in offices. If merely discussing faith at home is a crime, then punish all officers participating in public religious celebration.”
Well-known Shia cleric, Maulana Kalbe Jawad, has also come out to support the IAS officer.
He said, “Every person has the right to pray in his house. If this IAS officer offered prayers in a particular manner in his house, why should he be tried for it? SIT probe in every matter is not justified because everyone has the freedom of religion.”
The Yogi Adityanath government has taken a firm stand against forcible and illegal religious conversions in the state.
The UP ATS has arrested more than 14 people on charges of being involved in large-scale conversions across the country through their organisations.
During investigations, it was revealed that the people involved in this have been offering money for threatening innocents and luring them to convert to Islam, police sources have said.
That inspired solution — the local bank run by Tharu tribals in the village of Bishunapur in Bahraich has been an inspiration in how to free the community from the exploitation of moneylenders…reports Azeem Mirza
In the foothills of the Himalayas, surrounded by the dense Katarniya Ghat forest, lies the small village of Bishunapur, 47 km from Mihinpurwa village block in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district. Home to 2,500 people, of whom 2,200 belong to the scheduled tribe Tharu, the villagers here have had a troubled history with moneylenders.
The residents couldn’t even get half the price on the crops they toiled for as the Mahajans (moneylenders) would take the harvested crop at deeply discounted rates in lieu of loan repayment. If the borrower didn’t have food grains, moneylenders recovered the loan at the rate of 10 per cent per month. However, the situation has changed for the better through an impactful initiative undertaken by the villagers.
Eleven years ago, the youth of Bishunapur formed a bank, named Adarsh Swayam Sahayata Samuh (Ideal Self Help Group). Any resident of the village can borrow money from this bank at an interest rate of only 1 per cent. The people decide and inform the bank when they can repay the loan. Further, if someone is able to repay the money within 15 days, no interest is charged. This has helped the villagers emerged from the web of moneylenders.
That inspired solution — the local bank run by Tharu tribals in the village of Bishunapur in Bahraich has been an inspiration in how to free the community from the exploitation of moneylenders.
Basant Lal, the Pradhan of Bishunapur and the president of the Adarsh Swayam Sahayata Samuh, said, “Ten years ago, our village was in a bad condition. The money lenders would come here as soon as the crop was ready – be it paddy, wheat, maise, lentils – throw down the sack and say, ‘I want the sack to be filled’, without so much as considering if there was enough harvest. So our family elders had to give away the required grain to the moneylenders, even it meant borrowing from others in the village. It was hard to recover from such debts.”
The people of the village brainstormed for many days until the idea for a community-led bank emerged. It was unanimously decided that members would deposit Rs 100 per month to create the fund, and it would be used to give loans to those in need at an interest rate of just 1%.
“One by one, people kept joining, and now the group is 47-members strong. At present, the bank has a sum of Rs 12,16,081, inclusive of deposits by members, interest and fines. A meeting is held every month and it is mandatory for member-shareholders to attend. Absence or failure to pay the monthly deposit in time incurs fines, Lal told said.
Three people in the village manage the Adarsh Swayam Sahayata Samuh: one person motivates villagers to deposit the money, the second person is in charge of collecting the money, whereas the third person maintains the fund and the accounts. In addition, the three members are responsible for updating all the other shareholders of the bank regarding the transactions in the monthly meeting.
“Earlier, when we used to go to borrow money from moneylenders, they used to sit high up as we sat on the ground, waiting for hours. But now, the moneylenders themselves come to the village to ask if anyone needs money. They say, ‘generation after generation has been taking loans from us, why not you?’ We tell them, ‘those days are no more.’ Now, if anyone needs money to sow, buy fertilisers or medicines, they can take money from our bank – the need for the moneylender is over. It is better not to be dependent on anyone to solve our problems. We want such a group to be formed in every village,” said Lal.
The changing legacy of the Tharus
There are seven Tharu villages in the Mihinpurwa Tehsil, having a collective population of about 10,157, said Jang Hindustani, who runs the NGO Sevarth Foundation and has been working in the region for over a decade. “The situation of all these Tharu villages was almost the same as Bishunapur. After establishing the ‘Adarsh Swayam Sahayata Samuh’, other Tharu villages have also followed suit. However, the Bishunapur organisation being the oldest has more funds and has been able to help more people,” he added.
The Tharu tribals have a reputation for being loyal and straightforward. Once Tharus establish a relationship of trust with a person, even if they are simply a shop owner, they will continue to conduct business with them, and only them, unless they are deceived. The Mahajans, who had historically held the households’ trust with ready funds, had taken advantage of this trait for years, said Hindustani. “But now the younger generation has become very smart and aware,” he said.
The Tharus have a colourful history, according to Dr Neelam Agrawal who has been studying the Tharus of Bahraich, Balrampur and Lakhimpur and currently teaches at National PG College, Lucknow. The ‘Rana’ Tharus are considered to be the descendants of Maharana Pratap’s queens. It is believed that when Maharana Pratap was attacked, his queens fled into the forests with their servants and soon their community was established. “This is why the status of women is relatively high amongst Tharus,” Dr Agarwal said. The Dagoria and Kathotia Tharus also consider themselves the descendants of the kings of Nepal.
The tribe, whose bloodline once coursed through royal kingdoms and palaces, had to plead at the doors of the moneylenders. This used to hurt the community’s sentiments and they were ashamed of their poverty. But not anymore, said Munni Lal, a native of Bishunpur village.
The advertisement “Transforming Uttar Pradesh Under Yogi Adityanath” carried on Sunday in an English language publication has a cut-out of Mr Adityanath with a flyover that resembles Kolkata’s “Maa flyover..reports Asian Lite News.
In a major embarrassment, a full-page advertisement carried in a national English daily showcasing the industrialisation and development of Uttar Pradesh under UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth featured a photograph of Kolkata’s Maa flyover. The advertisement drew sharp criticism from several top ministers and leaders of the Trinamool Congress accusing Adityanath of “stealing images from infrastructure scenes in Bengal”. The English daily, later, owned the responsibility of the fault.
“Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial’s leadership and using them as his own! Looks like the ‘DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL’ has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all!,” TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted.
The tweet was immediately followed by Mukul Roy who has recently joined TMC from BJP. “Mr @narendramodi is so helpless to save his party that other than changing CMs, he has also had to resort to using pictures of growth & infrastructure seen under @MamataOfficial’s leadership, as his own,” Roy retweeted.
There were several others including State Transport Minister Firhad Hakim, Commerce and industry minister Partha Chatterjee and MP Mahua Moitra who joined the chorus. “Previously, BJP used photos from failures of law & order of their states to spread misinformation about West Bengal. Now they use photos of the flyover built under the leadership of #MamataBanerjee and under the chairmanship of KMDA to advertise for the ‘development’ in UP,” Hakim said.
“Thuggy Yogi in his UP ads with Kolkata’s MAA flyover, our JW Marriott & our iconic yellow taxis! Change your soul or at least your ad agency Gudduji!…. P.S. Looking forward to FIRs against me in Noida now,” Moitra wrote.
“When even Ajay Bisht can’t help himself but use pictures of #BengalModel for his own publicity… Slow claps!” Chatterjee tweeted.
The advertisement “Transforming Uttar Pradesh Under Yogi Adityanath” carried on Sunday in an English language publication has a cut-out of Mr Adityanath with a flyover that resembles Kolkata’s “Maa flyover” that connects the central part of the city with Salt Lake and Rajarhat located in the northeastern fringes of the city. The image also has Kolkata’s iconic yellow taxi and a high rise that resembles a five-star hotel in the city next to the Maa Flyover.
The English daily, however, later in the day ran a statement admitting that the fault lies with the marketing and advertorial team of the newspapers. The statement said, “A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper. The error is deeply regretted and the image has been removed in all digital editions of the paper”.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the creation of a Defence Corridor in UP during an Investors’ Summit in January 2018…reports Asian Lite News.
Uttar Pradesh may soon start manufacturing the next-gen state-of-the-art ‘BrahMos missile’.
The CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace, Sudhir Kumar Mishra, wrote to UPEIDA CEO and Additional Chief Secretary (home), Avanish Awasthi, on Tuesday seeking 200-acre land for its project at the Defence Corridor for making the BrahMos missile.
A delegation from BrahMos Aerospace also met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.
The BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile is the only unique, precise and state-of-the-art cruise missile in the world. The missile has been designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of DRDO, Government of India and NPOM, Government of Russia.
It is based on the technology of Russia’s P-800 Oniks cruise missile.
About 500 engineers and technical people will get direct employment in the BrahMos production centre which will be built by investing Rs 300 crores on the land to be allotted for making missiles, said a government spokesman.
Lucknow | BrahMos Aerospace has proposed to set up a state-of-the-art production facility in the Lucknow node of UP’s Defence Corridor for its next generation missile project, the state government said on Tuesdayhttps://t.co/kpK3i3MwWq
Apart from this, about 5,000 people will get indirect employment and 10,000 people will get work through the production centre.
The work of setting up the BrahMos production centre is likely to start soon. Research and development work will also be done in the centre.
More than 100 BrahMos missiles are planned to be built in the next three years.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the creation of a Defence Corridor in UP during an Investors’ Summit in January 2018.
Further, it was announced that the state government is setting up defence corridors in Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Agra, and Aligarh nodes.
During the Defence Expo-Lucknow in February 2020, many domestic and foreign companies making products related to defence had signed MoUs worth Rs 50,000 crore for investment in the corridor. Most of the MoUs have been signed for the corridor being built in Andla on Khair Road in Aligarh.
Various companies have shown interest in investing in the Lucknow node. According to the officials of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), around 29 companies submitted their proposals to the state government for setting up factories in the Aligarh node and requested to provide land for setting up the same.
Similarly, 11 companies in the Lucknow node, six in the Jhansi node, and eight in Kanpur node have requested to provide land for setting up factories. Acting on the proposals received from various companies, the UPEDIA has so far allotted 55.4 hectares of land in the Aligarh node to 19 international companies.
About four acres of land has been allotted to two companies in the Kanpur node and 15 acres of land to one company in Jhansi, whereas in Lucknow node, it has been agreed to give 200 acres of land to build the Brahmos production centre.
