With the Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh indisposed and advised complete rest, it was left to his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to make up for the patriarch’s absence in Saifai — an exhibitionn of rural arts and crafts — and Etawah on the occasion of Holi.
The Chief Minister, accompanied by Public Works Department Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, reached Saifai on Friday to participate in the celebrations with SP workers and members of the Yadav family’s home village. Describing Holi as a festival of brotherhood and oneness, Mr Akhilesh Yadav credited Mr. Singh with Saifai’s development. He said it was due to “Netaji” that the country came to know about Saifai. The Chief Minister returned to Lucknow later in the day.
In fact, the Chief Minister spent two consecutive days in Saifai. On Thursday, he gifted his home village and Etawah district with projects of more than Rs. 650 crore. While the foundation stone for eight projects was laid by the Chief Minister, four other schemes were unveiled by him.
Among the projects are a 500-bed super speciality hospital in Saifai to be built at a cost of Rs. 333.56 crore, a 300-bed male hostel in Saifai Medical College to be built at a cost of Rs. 19.58 crore, the administrative building in Jaswant Nagar police station in Etawah (Rs. 25.81 crore), modernisation and expansion of the Etawah bus stand (Rs.11.07 crore) and a 50-bed hospital in Bakewar, Etawah (Rs.7.12 crore).
Speaking at a function held in the Saifai exhibition pandal, Mr. Yadav said the development and welfare schemes would benefit the common man. He said new medical colleges had been opened in Kannauj, Banda and Azamgarh and a cancer institute would be set up in Lucknow on a 100-acre plot.
