Uttar Pradesh 2020 is a story similar to many other Indian states this past year. Through stellar Police & Safety programmes and District Administration, UP has made its way into the Top Ten states for 2020. Uttar Pradesh climbs rapidly through the ranks, from #11 in 2019 to #6 in 2020.

Some of the other praiseworthy sectors for Uttar Pradesh 2020 include Skill Development, Urban Development and Governance as well as Transport.

Much like all other Indian states, Uttar Pradesh 2020 projects have largely dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic. We see the Lady Tailors of Basti, not only making essential pandemic safety supplies but also supporting their families and communities through their earnings in a period of lockdowns and unemployment. Then there is the Public Works Department which set up a 24*7 Control Room to monitor the situation of migrant workers in relief camps in Maharashtra when the lockdown was enforced. District Administration Deoria is congratulated for excellent resource management, capacity-building of healthcare workers, effective use of telemedicine as well as convergence of multiple departments in response to Covid-19.

Top Gainers

The following table looks at the most remarkable accomplishments of Uttar Pradesh 2020. In our annual State of Governance review for 2020 we found that the most number of high-ranking projects from the state come from the District Administration niche. A spectacular 68.75% of the ranked projects from Uttar Pradesh 2020 fall into the District Administration category.

District Administration Thrives In Uttar Pradesh 2020

District Administration matured in 2020 all over India. Whether it’s a growing sense of civic duty or the realisation that we simply can’t afford to take it easy, the pandemic has induced a sense of proactive, enthusiastic problem-solving in people everywhere.

Barbanki Works On River Revival For Uttar Pradesh 2020

District Administration Barabanki started a project to revive the lost river Kalyani Nadi. This project served not one but two significant purposes. Firstly, it is crucial to protect and revive environmental resources whenever possible. And so, Kalyani Nadi gets a new lease on life. Secondly, the project helped provide employment to migrant labourers who were some of the worst-affected by Covid-19 and the lockdown. The river had depleted terribly due to a dearth of conservation efforts and river bank encroachment. As a result, the region would experience droughts in the summer and water logging during the monsoons. It also suffered from reduced arable land, crops lost and increased soil erosion. The local public, their representatives and the media have long been championing the cause of reviving the river.

In order to begin a restoration drive, authorities from the Revenue and Flood departments worked with Block officials to map a course. Drones helped get an accurate view of the entire river and its surroundings. Efforts in the beginning focused on easing two bottlenecks in the villages of Mawaiyya and Haiderganj. The team worked to expand the width and depth of the river in these places.

Before work began, project stakeholders tasked the gram panchayats with raising awareness about the same. This helped inform people about upcoming work opportunities so that they could apply for employment in the project under the MGNREGA scheme. The emotional and social value of this opportunity equals the monetary pay because it gave migrant forces a chance to work in their own villages and take ownership of developing their own landscape. Given the Covid-19 crisis, all project workers were supplied with masks, sanitisers and training about social distancing even while working on-site. This project is a testament to the CM’s vision of ‘Jaan bhi, Jahan bhi’.

As a result of these efforts, water flow and availability have improved. This has directly addressed problems of water logging, droughts and the erosion of the top layer of soil. Authorities expect land fertility to improve because of these changes. Water conservation and recharging ground water is also now an achievable goal.

These changes have drastically helped the local farmer community. They can now diversify from cash crops and invest in kharif crops like paddy. Because of increased availability of water, farmers can now keep cattle without worrying about them in the hot summer. As many as 1875 new plants have been grown along the banks of the river now as part of an afforestation drive. The goal is to both promote ecological sustainability and fortify the embankments.

Ambedkar Nagar Starts Mask Manufacturing In Uttar Pradesh 2020

District Administration Ambedkar Nagar launched a Mask Manufacturing by Self Help Group scheme. In the early months, there was a shortage of face masks. The women-SHGs produced 6 lakh face masks for distribution within their district as well as the rest of the state. The women made 3-layer khadi masks that were tested by experts for for efficacy against the Corona virus.

Police & Safety In Uttar Pradesh 2020

Much like District Administration, the Police & Safety category has done well in 2020 all over India too. And the same is echoed in Uttar Pradesh 2020. Ayodhya Police began Operation Home Delivery to connect people with their closest general needs stores and set up delivery services so people could stay home and avoid risking infection. The digital platform connected 2300 shopkeepers and essential services providers with customers. The zero-cost project was set up by the Smart Cell Team of Ayodhya Police.

Medium Performers

The two categories we haven’t seen as strong a performance as we’d have liked are Health and Municipal Sanitation. That is not to say that there have been no impactful projects within these categories. Far from it. But the Health sector has dropped from #5 in 2019 to #9 in 2020. Similarly, the Municipal Sanitation sector has fallen from #3 in 2019 to #6 in 2020.

This could be because of any number of reasons. For example, not every project stakeholder may have chosen to participate in our annual SKOCH State of Governance research project. Or, we may actually be seeing a dip in the number/ kind/ intensity of projects in these categories in Uttar Pradesh 2020. Covid-19 has impacted governance after all so it stands to reason that we’re observing some blowback across these sectors. However, given that the state has done rather well in the areas discussed above, we are hopeful that this year will be one of even more balanced development.

Health Schemes In Uttar Pradesh 2020

National Health Mission, Uttar Pradesh, introduced Capacity Building Initiatives in Uttar Pradesh in order to tackle the Covid-19 crisis. The Mission identified 4 verticals across which to concentrate efforts, chiefly: Clinical, Managerial, Environment Safety and Patient Rights. In order to enhance operational efficiency, scheme planners began focusing on needs evaluation incorporating feedback. Firstly, the Mission began raising awareness about the Covid-19 pandemic through social media platforms. One such innovative creation was the introduction of theme-specific attractive WhatsApp stickers about different healthcare concerns. Authorities designed general as well as facility-specific action plans along with a compendium of useful tools and guidelines to tackle the situation.

Given that onsite evaluation training and mentoring sessions are no longer possible because of Covid-19, the Mission shifted to online capacity-building programs. The programs focus on Skill, Knowledge and Attitude development. Around 200-300 people attend each virtual program. For example, on 14th August 2020 the Mission ran a one-day online workshop on Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

Monitors assess hospitals on an individual basis to make recommendations and design training on a felt-needs basis. Customised action plans help close performance gaps.

Municipal Sanitation Projects In Uttar Pradesh 2020

The Kanpur Municipal Corporation has contributed to the Swacch Bharat Mission by starting a Revival of Municipal Solid Waste Processing Plant. The plant site was unfortunately neglected and served as nothing more than a dumpsite for years. Because of this, garbage dumping began to cause spillovers onto the highway. The municipal authorities realised the need to act quickly and began a revival project.

The project took 10 months from start to finish and cost Rs.11.5 crores. Firstly, fresh waste was processed on a daily basis to prevent buildup. A concerted effort helped reduce the legacy waste from 17 lakhs m3 to 9 lakh m3. This exercise also offered a revenue generation opportunity for the corporation through processing compost and RDF. As a result of these efforts, the entire site is properly maintained now. The positive impact of reducing environmental pollution will be felt for years. Authorities can now satisfactorily track and account for waste being moved and dumped. The plant now processes both fresh and legacy waste, unlike before. The corporation plants to subsequently set up a plastics-to-bio-diesel plant and a carcass utilisation plant.

Indifferent

It goes without saying that even fast-growing states like Uttar Pradesh 2020 cannot get a perfect score in every category. In UP’s case, some of the areas we’ve identified as ‘Indifferent’ for 2020 are Agriculture, Ease of Doing Business and Education, not to mention e-Governance, Finance & Revenue and Infratructure. Other segments that have also not displayed much of a performance this past year include Municipal Governance, Power & Energy, Rural Development, Water and Women & Child Development.