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Anyone daring to harass women in Uttar Pradesh will sign their own death sentence: Yogi Adityanath
Chief minister links women’s safety, end of riots and police recruitment reforms to changing image of Uttar Pradesh
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Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday issued a stern warning to those harassing women, saying anyone daring to molest a woman in Uttar Pradesh would knowingly invite severe consequences.
“Today, no one can dare to molest a daughter. If someone does, he knows the consequences. If he does not, I think he is signing his own death sentence,” Adityanath said while addressing a ceremony at Lok Bhavan where he distributed appointment letters to police recruits.
The chief minister used the occasion to highlight what he described as a transformation in Uttar Pradesh’s law-and-order situation, saying, “Now there are no riots in the state. Sometimes we conduct riot mock drills so that people do not forget how riots happen.”
He contrasted the present situation with the period before 2017, alleging that riots, long curfews and the influence of organised crime had undermined public confidence in the state’s policing and administration back then.
He also targeted the earlier recruitment system, claiming that it lacked transparency and was plagued by nepotism.
“Someone would take the exam, but someone else would get the appointment,” he said, adding that young people had once felt government jobs could not be secured without recommendation or financial transactions.
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Yogi said recruitment reforms had helped bring greater transparency to the process.
Highlighting police modernisation, Yogi said that in 2017, more than half of the police posts were vacant, with the force numbering below two lakh against a requirement of around four lakh. He said infrastructure had since been strengthened, including the construction of large police barracks in 56 districts.
He also cited the revival of 34 PAC companies, the establishment of cyber police stations in every district and the expansion of forensic infrastructure. He said police commissionerates had been introduced in seven cities.
Yogi said the police had become a “symbol of trust” for Uttar Pradesh’s 25 crore people and attributed the change in the state’s image to policing and other governance reforms.
