Lucknow, Oct 13 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said retired teachers should be engaged on the basis of a fixed honorarium till new appointments are made.

He made the statement at the Mission Rozgar event at Lok Bhavan here after handing over appointment letters to 219 principals selected by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission.

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He said colleges had become cheating dens under previous governments and the cheating mafia took contracts to make children clear their examinations.

However, significant improvements have been made and implemented in the last six years to address the issue, he said.

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Stating that principals are the backbone of educational institutions, the CM said, "If principals remain disciplined and promote new activities and innovations in colleges, then meaningful outcomes are achieved."

Along with their curriculum, students should also be given information about the country, the world, and government schemes related to youths and women welfare, he said.

High School (class 10th) and Intermediate Board (12th) exams conducted by the Secondary Education Council last year have become an example in the country as 56 lakh students appeared and the results were declared within 15 days, he said, adding the exams were cheating-free.

Adityanath also said this is the same Uttar Pradesh, where security breaches happened under previous governments and people did not feel safe.

An atmosphere of lawlessness and disorder prevailed and riots and corruption used to be the hallmarks here and investors were leaving the state, he said.

"When our government provided a safe environment, the state received investment proposals worth Rs 38 lakh crore through the Global Investors Summit. This will provide jobs to more than one crore youth," he said.

Adityanath also said that in the last six years, the state government has been successful in providing government jobs to six lakh youths in a fair and transparent manner, including the appointment of 1,64,000 teachers.

The chief minister also said that Uttar Pradesh is the centre of spiritual and cultural heritage. The state receives the highest number of spiritual tourists in the country, and there has been significant growth in this sector.

Before 2017, only 1.5 crore to 2 crore tourists visited Uttar Pradesh, but now this number has increased to 30 crore tourists in a year, he said.

He also said if collective efforts are made, then Uttar Pradesh can become the number one economy of the country.

Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh has been the centre of education. At the time of independence, Uttar Pradesh used to provide teachers to various states of the country. "We will again have to make efforts in that direction and raise an army of disciplined and patriot citizens."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)