New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, saying “Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals laid the foundation for a ‘self-reliant’ India. Bapu’s call for Swadeshi, Swachchta and Gram Swaraj are the basis of the vision of attaining ‘self-reliance’.

The Chief Minister also fondly remembered India’s second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birth anniversary also falls on October 2, noting that he is admired across the country for his simplicity and decisiveness.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi by offering a garland on the Gandhi statue located at the GPO Park in the state capital. He also later visited the Gandhi Ashram and Shastri Bhawan, memorials to Gandhi and Shastri, respectively, to pay tributes to them along with Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, and Swatantra Dev Singh, among others.

The CM while remembering Gandhi said, “Bapu’s teachings act as a guide for the new, free and independent India. PM Modi since 2014 has worked assiduously to push the country towards ‘self-reliance’. Upliftment of poor through Jan Dhan accounts, ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’ and safeguarding the dignity of women were among the first steps of the Modi government.”

In his address, the CM said that when the whole world was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, PM gave the mantra of a ‘self-reliant’ India and promoted ‘vocal for local’. The double-engine government is working religiously for Gram Swaraj, self-reliance through the promotion of local goods such as Khadi.

Vision of ‘self-reliant’ UP must be fulfiled for a ‘self-reliant’ India: CM

Maintaining that his government is working for a self-reliant UP, the CM said that schemes like One District One Product (ODOP) and Vishwakarma Shram Samman are encouraging local and traditional crafts and strengthening the rural economy. The government is also providing tool kits, and financial assistance to support artisans, and craftsmen.

“In the last five years, UP encouraged local products, and resultantly the exports have doubled. With this, we are leading lakhs of people towards self-reliance,” he added.

Furthermore, giving tribute to former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, the CM said that Shastri Ji established India as a powerful country in the world with the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.

CM Yogi said that for the next three months from Gandhi Jayanti, the state and central government have decided to give special discounts on Khadi products. During this, other ministers of the government including the Chief Minister also bought clothes from the Gandhi Ashram.