In Yogi's UP, No More Holidays on Birth Anniversaries of Great Men

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday held his fourth Cabinet meeting at Lok Bhawan, Lucknow, taking some important decisions.

Power Minister and state government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma told the media that the biggest decision was to scrap 15 holidays on the birth anniversaries of great personalities.

The minister further informed that special events will be held on martyrs' birth anniversary, and the government officials will remain at work on the birth anniversaries of great personalities.

The meeting also emphasised the need to stop land grabbing in the name of religion and a new portal will be put in place for people to register their complaints.

To prevent land grabbing, a four-level task force will be formed and strict action will be ensured against those who occupy the government land. Identification of people who have grabbed land in the name of religion will be done in next two months.

If there is no action, the action will be taken against the police station in charge. An anti-land mafia task force will be constituted to keep a check on the menace.

After the Cabinet meeting, Minister Shrikant Sharma announced the help to the families of the soldiers killed in the Naxalite attack. He said that financial assistance of Rs. 30 lakh will be given to the families of the martyrs. On Monday, twenty-four soldiers were killed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in a Naxal attack. Two of those martyred were from Uttar Pradesh.

Sharma further said that a special session of the Assembly has been called from May 15, 2017. Besides this, it was decided that an auditorium of Culture Department will be constructed in Gorakhpur. Also, a policy for retailers was finalised in the fourth cabinet meeting.

In the previous Cabinet meetings of the Yogi-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, a surcharge of outstanding electricity bills on farmers was waived off and it was decided twenty new Krishi Vigyan Kendra with the help of the state government. The crop insurance scheme was also approved in the previous meeting giving a major relief to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh.