Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described Maa Bhagwati in her Skandamata form as the embodiment of affection, maternal love and nourishment.
He said that the worship of Maa Skandamata conveys the sacred message that the nations present can be secure and its future bright only when women are healthy, educated and empowered.
In a post on X, the Chief Minister said that before 2017, previous governments focused on nurturing their own political families instead of empowering daughters. He added that maternal healthcare and girls education in the state had suffered due to gross neglect and corruption. Poor hospital conditions, shortages of medicines and inadequate facilities for institutional deliveries had pushed maternal and infant mortality rates to alarming levels.
The Chief Minister said that the double-engine government had transformed the situation over the past nine and a half years. Earlier, lakhs of girls in the state were forced to drop out of school due to the lack of basic facilities. However, over the past 9.5 years, the government has established a comprehensive framework for womens safety and welfare, covering every stage from a girls birth and education to safe motherhood.
Highlighting the changes since 2017, Adityanath said that under Operation Kayakalp, the coverage of basic facilities in primary schools had increased from 36 per cent to over 96 per cent. The school dropout rate had also declined from 20 per cent to less than 3 per cent.
He added that Atal Residential Schools are providing modern, world-class residential education to girls from workers families and disadvantaged sections of society. Meanwhile, the expansion of educational facilities up to Class 12 in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas is enabling more girls to complete their schooling.
The Chief Minister said that investing in girls education was an investment in strengthening their confidence and securing the future of the state.