Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), had all praise for the Yogi Adityanath Government in Uttar Pradesh when she paid a courtesy call to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence here on Wednesday morning.

The Chief Minister greeted Melinda Gates and her colleagues. In a special meeting, BMGF founder discussed with the Uttar Pradesh government enhancing technical cooperation in the fields of health, nutrition and agriculture. She said the work done by UP in recent years including Covid management and control of disease like encephalitis, were exemplary.

“Amidst the challenges of Covid, the way the state leadership tackled the issue of dense population and various social challenges is highly commendable. The world should learn from the way vaccination was carried out in UP despite having such a large and dense population,” she said.

According to her, the efforts of the UP government in the areas of health security, financial inclusion, nutrition, education, women empowerment, etc. are inspiring and that the state is a model not only for India but also for the whole world.

Overwhelmed by the efforts of women empowerment in UP, Melinda Gates praised the policies of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. She said due to the efforts of chief minister, the self-confidence of women will increase and leadership potential will be developed in them. This way, these women will be able to play an important role in the development of the country and the state. These efforts have proved that women too can lead, she claimed.

Discussing the Foundation’s deep ties with the state, Gates added: “We have been working here for a long time in the field of health and social security. It is a matter of happiness that we are able to provide facilities to the weakest and last person of the society. We intend to further improve our relations with UP in the coming times.”

She also appreciated the effective implementation of the digital banking system in UP.

Melinda Gates said that there are immense possibilities of development in UP. The work done for the betterment of infrastructure in the past few years is unprecedented. The development of UP is wonderful and its direction is right, she added.

Melinda Gates also congratulated women’s self-help groups for the success of the nutrition mission in the state and also praised the efforts being made to increase the income of farmers by promoting the formation of FPOs in the largest agricultural state of the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it was a matter of pride for all that resulted in the Amrit Kaal of India’s independence, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India has been given the chairmanship of G-20, a group of big nations of the world, from December 2022 to December 2023. This period will prove to be important for the happiness, prosperity and security of the whole world,” he said.

The CM said that he has closely seen the works of the BMGF, which has made a commendable contribution in the field of health and nutrition. UP received logistics and technical support from the Foundation amidst the challenges of Covid. “We are grateful to the Foundation for this gesture,” Yogi said.

The CM also invited Melinda Gates and her colleagues to participate in the proposed Global Investors Summit to be held in the state from February 10 to 12, 2023.

He said that UP has achieved satisfactory success in the field of health and nutrition in recent years. About 95% of the deaths of innocent children caused by a disease like encephalitis, have been controlled.

“Besides, the Foundation has cooperated with us for effective control of communicable diseases like Chikungunya and Kala-azar. We have received good cooperation from global organizations like UNICEF, WHO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH in the field of public health including in controlling various water borne diseases such as encephalitis and Covid management. Such efforts will continue to be made with mutual cooperation,” he said.

Yogi, however, conceded that a lot remains to be done in the field of health security in the state. “The major challenge we have is 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 can cooperate with us to produce qualified, and skilled, Professional Nursing Staff, Paramedics,” CM remarked.

Referring to the efforts and results of Mission Shakti in the state for women empowerment, the Chief Minister said that this campaign focuses on three things- women’s safety, honour and self-reliance.

Milinda also met UP assembly speaker Satish Mahana during her brief visit to Lucknow. He asked her to invite assembly members in the programmes of the Foundation in their respective constituencies. He also assured all support to the Foundation and hailed the effort of the Foundation in uplifting the health facilities in the state.