Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said girls’ education and women’s self-reliance were priorities for the Uttar Pradesh government, adding that ensuring women’s dignity, security and economic independence was essential to establishing Ram Rajya.
An investigation found that the absence of basic facilities was a major reason for the dropouts. The government subsequently ordered the construction of separate toilets for boys and girls, ensured drinking water facilities and improved the quality of mid-day meals. After forming the government in 2017, he said, he sought to understand why so many girls were leaving school. “At that time, 60% to 70% of girls went to school barefoot.
Addressing a programme organised under the ‘Shiksha Ki Udaan’ initiative at the Devipatan temple complex in Balrampur district, the CM said that before 2017, every fifth girl in the state dropped out of school midway through her education due to a lack of basic facilities, including toilets and drinking water.
Many children did not even have sweaters during winter,” he said, adding that arrangements were made to provide uniforms, sweaters, shoes, socks, bags and books.
