Once described as BIMARU, U.P. transformed as country’s growth engine, says CM Yogi

Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday (September 20, 2026) attacked previous governments over alleged irregularities, nepotism and corruption in recruitment, saying those who had “turned Uttar Pradesh into a BIMARU State” had no right to question the present government’s record.

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

The U.P. CM added that the State government has prioritized women in its schemes. “In Uttar Pradesh, 54,000 Banking Correspondent Sakhis are providing banking services in villages,” said Mr. Adityanath.

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 per month. Milk producer groups are also working in Agra, Kashi, Gorakhpur and Lucknow. Around four lakh 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. “This figure will cross 50,000 in the next three to four months. Women’s participation in the state’s workforce has also increased from 12 percent to 36-37 percent. Under the new Digital Entrepreneurship scheme, women entrepreneurs will be connected and trained in 4,000 of the 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 comprises youth. Over the past nine and a half years, the government has provided government jobs to 9.5 lakh youth. Around 3.25 crore youth are working in 96 lakh MSME units. Due to better security arrangements, the state has received investment proposals worth Rs 50 lakh crore. Of these, investment worth more than Rs 15 lakh crore has been realized on the ground, providing employment to more than 65 lakh youth.”

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