Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) co-founder Melinda Gates paid a courtesy call on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence on Wednesday.
In a special meeting between Gates and the Chief Minister, discussions were held on increasing technical cooperation in the fields of health, nutrition and agriculture.
Adityanath tweeted, Had a wonderful meeting with the Co-Chairperson and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at my official residence today in Lucknow. Our fruitful cooperation in the field of health, nutrition, social security and better technical cooperation in agriculture is discussed.
During their discussion, Gates lauded the work done by Uttar Pradesh in recent years, highlighting Covid management and encephalitis control despite its dense population.
Gates said, ‘The way the state leadership dealt with the dense population and various social challenges amid the challenges of Kovid is commendable.’
She also appreciated the efforts of Uttar Pradesh government in the areas of health care, financial inclusion, nutrition, education, women empowerment and said, “Uttar Pradesh is a model not only for India but for the whole world”.
Melinda’s Foundation has a deep connection with Uttar Pradesh. Gates said, ‘There are immense possibilities of development in Uttar Pradesh.
She particularly highlighted the work on infrastructure in the last few years. Calling it “unprecedented”, Gates said that the direction of development has been in the right direction.
Gates also congratulated the women self-help groups (SHGs) for the success of the nutrition mission and appreciated the efforts being made to increase the income of farmers by promoting the formation of FPOs in the country’s largest agricultural state.
She appreciated the policies of women empowerment.
Speaking on occasion, the Chief Minister said that she has closely observed the work of BMGF, which has made a commendable contribution to the field of health and nutrition.
UP received logistics and technical support from the Foundation amidst the challenges of Kovid. Yogi said, “We are grateful to the Foundation for this gesture.”
She further said, “Uttar Pradesh has made satisfactory progress in health and nutrition in recent years. About 95% of the deaths of innocent children due to diseases like encephalitis have been controlled.
“Also, the Foundation has collaborated with us for effective control of communicable diseases like chikungunya and kala-azar. We have received good feedback from global organizations like UNICEF, WHO, BMGF and PATH in the field of public health, including controlling various waterborne diseases. Cooperation has been received. Such as encephalitis and Covid management. Such efforts will continue with mutual cooperation.” CM Yogi further said.
She said, “Uttar Pradesh has shown phenomenal improvement in health and nutrition. Our performance on many parameters is better than the national average.”
She appreciated the contribution of BMGF in reducing maternal and child mortality. He also informed about the efforts being made in mission mode for the vaccination of children under PM’s Mission Indradhanush.
The result of these efforts is that the health security of every citizen of the state is being ensured.
The Chief Minister spoke about the major challenge in the availability of skilled nursing/paramedics. “In this regard software has been developed in the state under Mission Niramaya, which has become a good model for training and skill development of nursing paramedical staff. The Foundation will cooperate with us to prepare qualified, and skilled, professional nursing staff Can do.” , paramedics,” he said.
“During the outbreak of COVID-19, 36 districts of the state did not have ICU and ventilator facilities. However, the government ensured the availability of ventilators and ICUs by developing dedicated COVID hospitals in all districts. Virtual ICUs were also functioning. Master trainer,” he said.
Referring to the efforts and results of Mission Shakti in Uttar Pradesh for women empowerment, the CM said that this campaign is focused on three things – women safety, respect and self-reliance.
She said, “Twenty percent posts in police recruitment have been reserved for women. Today women constables have been deployed in every gram panchayat of the state.”
Schemes like ‘Banking Sakhi’ have strengthened financial inclusion in villages and played a significant role in women’s empowerment. Women’s voluntary groups are working to solve the problem of malnutrition.
Gates also appreciated the effective implementation of the digital banking system in UP.
CM Yogi invited Melinda Gates and her colleagues to participate in the proposed Global Investors Summit on 10-12 February 2023 in the state.