Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 24 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday met Governor Anandiben Patel in Lucknow to mark the completion of eight years of his government. During the meeting at Raj Bhavan, he presented the book 'Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas - Eight Years of Prosperity' to the Governor.

Taking to social media platform X, the Chief Minister wrote, 'On the occasion of completion of 8 years of 'policy of service, security and good governance' of the Uttar Pradesh government, I made a courtesy call on Hon'ble Governor Anandiben Patel today at Raj Bhawan, Lucknow. On this occasion, she was also presented the book 'Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas-8 Years of Prosperity.''

Earlier in the day, speaking at a programme marking his government's eight-year tenure, CM Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh had transformed from a BIMARU state into the 'growth engine of the nation's economic development.'

'UP was considered among the BIMARU states 8 years ago, people only knew it as labour-power. Today, it has emerged as the growth engine of the nation's economic development,' he said at a press conference.

The Chief Minister also spoke about the neglect of the agriculture sector before 2017 and highlighted his government's efforts to boost agricultural productivity.

He further added, 'The agriculture sector was neglected before 2017... UP has an abundance of agricultural possibilities and water resources... We could have grown as a basket of agricultural production in the country. We could have multiplied farmers' income with the help of technology. But before 2017, farmers were committing suicide... Farmer welfare schemes had been pending for 4 decades...'

He also highlighted the struggles farmers faced, including suicides and pending welfare schemes, before the government's intervention.

'The sugar industry was on the verge of collapse before 2017... We revived the shut sugar mills... Currently, 122 sugar mills are functional in the state... Sugarcane farmers have been paid more than Rs. 2.8 lakh crores from 2017 till now... We did more in 8 years than what the previous governments did in 22 years,' Yogi said.

On law and order, he cited the successful organisation of the Prayagraj Mahakumbh as an example of Uttar Pradesh's improved security environment. 'We know about the law and order situation before 2017. There used to be riots almost every day; daughters and traders were not safe... Today, UP has taken a huge leap in law and order, Prayagraj's Mahakumbh is the biggest example of it. In the 45-day event, there was no such incident that may have caused inconvenience to the devotees... There were 1.5 lakh vacancies in the UP police dept in 2017... The recruitment process was not transparent... More than 2,16,000 police personnel have been recruited,' Yogi Adityanath said.

He also accused previous governments of weakening security forces. '54 companies of PAC, fighting rioters, were shut down by the previous governments... This was a conspiracy to give a free had to rioters. We revived these companies after coming to power and also incorporated two women PAC companies... We installed 11 lakh CCTVs... UP became the first state to complete the CCTV installation in 17 municipal corporations and Gautam Buddh Nagar,' he added.

A programme was organised in Lucknow to commemorate eight years of the Yogi Adityanath government. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Minister Brajesh Pathak, Minister Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, and several other ministers and dignitaries attended the event. (ANI)