"CO, SDM ko lagao unke pair dabane ke liye": Akhilesh Yadav on row over displaying owners' names in Kanwar route

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday proposed that the Uttar Pradesh government issues an order that prompts the top officials to invest their time in providing various facilities related to food and health to the Kanwar yatris, who will be undertaking their pilgrimage walk in the holy month of Shravan.
"They should, the Commissioner, DM and SP should be deployed to make food arrangements for the Kanwar yatris. CO and SDM ko lagao unke pair dabane ke liye (CO, SDM should be deployed to provide them with ease). This will perhaps give them relief. This is our Vedic custom. The government should issue an order that says that DM, SP will make food and health arrangements for the Kanwar yatris and CO, SDM unke pair vair daba kar sewa karenge," Yadav, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, told reporters.
When asked to comment on the state government's directive to display the names of the shops along the Kanwar yatra routes, the SP chief criticised the Yogi Adityanath government for its failure to construct a dedicated corridor for the Shiv devotees undertaking the Kanwar yatra.
Yadav added that the government's directives came as it tried to hide its "incompetence" in not providing proper facilities to Kanwar yatris.
"They should have constructed the corridor they were propagating about for Kanwariyas. They should have built an infrastructure for the Kanwar devotees that would have provided them with facilities (and ease). Why are they not able to provide the facilities? It was their responsibility to build a corridor for the Kanwariyas that would have provided them with the recommended food and rest. They are using these applications of QR code (highlighting names) to hide their incompetence," he asserted.
Taking a swipe at UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who also holds the health portfolio, Yadav also highlighted the lack of staff in medical colleges.
"They should worry about their medical colleges and hospitals. In all medical colleges, a certain number of professors and technicians are needed; however, no college has all of them. And as a result, people are opting for private hospitals," he added.
Meanwhile, the state administration has stepped up security measures to ensure peace and prevent any untoward incidents during Muharram processions and the ongoing Kanwar Yatra, which are taking place across several districts in Uttar Pradesh, including Sambhal, Lucknow, and Moradabad. (ANI)