Yogi Adityanath said UP government's efforts have kept vector-borne diseases in check. (File)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said parties that ruled the state from 1977 to 2017 made "zero contribution" to keeping encephalitis in check.
"The first encephalitis case was detected in UP in 1977. No initiative was taken by any government to check its spread to 38 districts. Between 1977 and 2017, 50,000 children died of the disease. The opposition, which ruled the state then, made zero contribution to check it," he said in his address in UP assembly.
Yogi Adityanath said that 70 to 90 per cent of the kids who died due to encephalitis were Dalits or belonged to minority communities.
The UP Chief Minister said there were 2,900 cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in 2016, accounting for 491 deaths. In 2017, there were 3,911 cases and 641 deaths.
Claiming that unlike neighbouring states, no vector-borne diseases were spreading in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath said, "This is due to our focus on the Swacch Bharat campaign for which we even received an award," he said.
Yogi Adityanath said that on Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, BJP leaders participated in an anti-plastic campaign .
"I urge the MLAs to launch a similar campaign in their respective constituencies also and ensure the success of the Swachh Bharat campaign. Those MLAs, whose constituencies turn out to be the best," he said.