Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said the first priority of his government has been to ensure safety and security to its citizens, especially women.
Addressing the national convention of FICCI FLO (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organisation) in Lucknow on Friday, Adityanath said, "It is natural that a society cannot be made self-dependent and self-reliant by ignoring half of its population".
He said that when the BJP came to power in the state, there was an atmosphere of insecurity and law and order was pathetic.
31 October 2025
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"Neither the traders, industrialists, nor the daughters of the market were safe. At that time (when we came to power), our first priority was security," he said.
He further noted that "important thing is that when a person is not safe, then how can capital (money) remain safe? When the traders, daughters and markets are unsafe, then what development are we talking about?" He added that, under the policy of zero tolerance, under which the state government has worked for the past eight to eight-and-a-half years, Uttar Pradesh has made a giant leap, and "today, UP is known as a model state in the country".
The Chief Minister also said that today, festivals are held peacefully in the state, and every person feels safe.
"And, the result of this feeling of safety and the honest efforts made by the government, is that a state, which did not get any investment, and people who had invested in the state, were looking for a new opportunity to run away from the state, that state has been successful in bringing an investment of ₹45 lakh crore," Adityanath said.
He also said that when his party came to power, the women workforce was only 12-15%. Today, that number has risen to 35-36%. In 2017, the number of women in the UP Police was only 10,000. Some of them may have retired. Today, there are 44,000 women personnel in the UP Police.
"We made it mandatory to recruit 20% women. Women's work in sectors like school education, Anganwadi centers, and others is outstanding," he said.
Referring to the readymade garments sector, the chief minister said that Bangladesh's position in the global market is continuously declining. Its hold on readymade garments is waning. India can gain control of that market.
FICCI FLO can play a major role in uplifting half the population through the flattened factory model in readymade garments. By providing readymade garments designed as per the demand of the global market to the world market, we can connect crores of sisters and move forward towards economic self-reliance, Adityanath said.
He also enumerated numerous government schemes and said that extensive changes have been made in labour laws for working in any enterprise.
"Previously, women were required to work in one shift and could not work at night. We have ensured that women can shoulder even more important responsibilities than men. Women are leading society in every field. In some areas, only women can perform better," he said.
