UP Assembly To Work For 24 Hours Straight, Government To Present Vision 2047

Days ahead of Independence Day, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly will set a new record by working for 24 straight hours to discuss the government's vision for the state's development till 2047, a year which will mark 100 years since India attained freedom. 

The 24-hour work day will begin at 11 am on Wednesday and a roster has been drawn up of ministers to present the vision for their departments one at a time. Officials said the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary held several rounds of meetings to prepare the vision document and all aspects were discussed in detail with the principal secretaries of every department. Inputs were taken from experts as well.

Speaking at midnight on Thursday will be Science and Technology minister Anil Kumar followed by Khadi and Village Industries minister Rakesh Sachan. The next set of ministers will start their presentations at 3 am, beginning with Coordination and Labour Minister Anil Rajbhar. The 6 am session will be started by Tourism and Culture Minister Jayveer Singh and the last presentation will be made by junior Education Minister Rajni Tiwari, before the session ends at 11 am on Thursday. 

On the reasons behind holding a 24-hour session, an official said, "The Yogi Adityanath government wants to send a clear message across the country. The idea is to make it clear that bulldozers and Hindutva are not the only things on the government's agenda and the goal is to have a developed Uttar Pradesh."

While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has appealed to the Samajwadi Party to be present in the Assembly while the vision document is being presented, the opposition party has decided to boycott it. While Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has termed the 24-hour session "madness", senior party leader Shivpal Yadav said the BJP-led government only knows how to make headlines.