File Picture of The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Amid an unprecedented power crisis and a drought in the state, a high-level delegation led by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav left for Netherlands on Monday, a government spokesman said.
Accompanied by ministers and senior bureaucrats including chief secretary Alok Ranjan, Yadav will be meeting industry captains and government officials in Netherlands in a bid to attract investment in the state and enhance trade ties.
Soon after arriving in Amsterdam, Yadav is slated to visit the world's biggest flower auction centre Flora Holland at Aalsmeer.
UP is looking to expand its floral growth and maximize its exports. The same day, Yadav will hold a meeting with officers of the Netherlands Agro Food and Technology Centre (NAFTC) and learn from its experts how to minimize wastage of food products through a food value chain.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is also scheduled to meet the Mayor of the Hague Jozias Van Aartsen.
<divid='ndtvrelcontent'></div>The delegation is also expected to look at Dutch model of promoting cycling, where more than 57 per cent people of use bicycles.
Yadav will also visit the International Court of Justice at The Hague and meet trade groups and Non-resident Indians (NRI's).
However, the visit has been criticised by opposition parties, as it comes in wake of an unprecedented power crisis and drought in two-third of districts.
"Such trips are necessary but the timing of this particular visit and the fact that both the CM and the chief secretary are away from the state in such crisis situation speakes volumes of the casual approach of the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in attending to problems faced by the people," said Vijay Bahadur Pathak, state spokesman of the BJP.
Leader of opposition Swamy Prasad Maurya said, "The tour will make no difference" and accused the state government of being indifferent to the plight of the common man.