UP to be first state to have 18 'safe cities': Adityanath

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said Uttar Pradesh will be the first state in the country to have 18 'safe cities', providing a conducive environment for the safety and development of every resident of the state, according to a statement.

''All the 17 Municipal Corporations and Gautam Budh Nagar should be developed as 'Safe Cities' in the first phase in next three months Manage finance for this through inter-departmental coordination,'' Adityanath said during a review meeting here.

In the second phase, municipalities of 57 district headquarters, and then in the third phase, 143 municipalities, should be linked to the Safe City project, he added.

Special branding should also be done by putting a signboard of 'Safe City' at the entrance of all such cities. In this way, Uttar Pradesh will be the first state in the country to have the highest number of safe cities, the Chief Minister said.

Along with women safety, the project will now also include safety of the elderly, children, and divyangjan, he added. The chief minister while reviewing the action plan for the expansion of the Safe City project being implemented in the state, gave instructions regarding development of all the cities.

The state government is determined to provide a conducive environment for the safety and development of every citizen of the state, he said adding that the efforts made in this direction in the last six years have yielded promising results.

''Today, every woman and every businessman is safe in the state. People have a sense of security. For this belief to stay, we have to be in alert mode 24×7. The Safe City Project is proving to be extremely useful in fulfilling the resolve to ensure women's safety, dignity, and self-reliance,'' he said.

Through this project in the state, under the Lucknow Police Commissionerate, modern control rooms, pink police booths, Asha Jyoti Kendras, CCTV cameras, help desks for counsellors in women's police stations, panic buttons in buses, and other security measures were implemented, he said. Currently, the Safe City project is focused on the safety of women. We should expand it and also link it to the safety of the elderly, children, and divyangjan. Through Safe City, the campaign to create a safe, protected, and empowered environment for women, children, the elderly, and divyangjan in public places will get the necessary impetus,'' he said.

The Social Welfare Department and the Urban Development Department should work together for the systematic rehabilitation of deranged persons or people engaged in begging, he said.

Verification of the drivers of public transport vehicles is necessary to realise the concept of Safe City, he said adn emphasied that drivers of taxis, e-rickshaws, autos, tempos, etc. should be duly verified by the police.