Melinda Gates, the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has met with hardline monk-turned-politician Yogi Adityanath during a visit to India, hailing his governance in Uttar Pradesh as a “model for the world”.
The Uttar Pradesh state government has claimed its effective policies helped minimize COVID casualties even when India was suffering one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks.
Gates held a meeting at the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s residence on Wednesday to discuss further the foundation’s cooperation with the state.
Gates praised the “exemplary” and “commendable” work done in India’s most populous state under Adityanath’s leadership, underlining its Covid management measures and encephalitis control.
“Amidst the challenges of COVID, the way the state leadership tackled the issue of dense population and various social challenges is highly commendable,” Gates said in a statement.
She also praised the efforts of the Uttar Pradesh government in the fields of health security, financial inclusion, nutrition, education, and women empowerment.
“Uttar Pradesh is a model not only for India but for the whole world,” Gates added.
Adityanath has a devoted right-wing following but has faced criticism for his divisive political rhetoric and hardline approaches to cracking down on criminals and selectively using bulldozers to demolish people’s homes and businesses.
The state, with a population of 240 million, has one of the worst track records on crime in the country, and Adityanath has pledged a “zero tolerance” policy towards offenders.
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