Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that over one lakh youth in the state would get government jobs within the next six months.

While speaking at a function organised in Lucknow to distribute appointment letters to 818 candidates selected for various departmental posts by the UPPSC and UPSSSC, he claimed that the previous Samajwadi Party government appointed someone as chairman of the UP Public Service Commission (UPPSC) who was not eligible for the post.

"To those who had created a mess regarding the distribution of appointment letters before 2017, I want to say this: Take note -- we are distributing appointment letters starting today, and over the next six months, we are going to provide government jobs to more than one lakh young people. Let them count; we will keep on delivering," Adityanath said.

Criticising the SP, the chief minister said without naming anyone, "Such a person, who was not eligible for the post, was made the chairman of the UP PSC. The court had to intervene, and young people had to take to the streets to demand that this person be jailed for life and left to rot in prison." In October 2015, the Allahabad High Court quashed Anil Kumar Yadav's appointment as chairman of the UP Public Service Commission, calling it "illegal". The court also rapped the SP government for breaching its constitutional duty by appointing him without properly inquiring into his "integrity and competence".

While setting aside Yadav's appointment as the UPPSC chairman, a division bench of the court comprising (the then) Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Yashwant Verma held that the appointment was "arbitrary", "illegal", "ultra vires of Article 316 of the Constitution", and made "without application of mind, ignoring the suitability and availability of other candidates".

Yadav, who took over in April 2013, was selected from among 83 candidates who had submitted their biodata for the post to the state government. Moreover, the court pointed out several improprieties in the selection process, including that Yadav's biodata was "sent to the state government by fax from an office of the Samajwadi Party".

Adityanath said when recruitment boards and 'aayog' (service commissions) avoid government politics ('shaasan') and conduct examinations through transparent, upright processes, the results are evident -- as seen in today's appointment letter distribution ceremony. This is not the first time such an event has taken place, he said.

Recalling the time period before 2017, Adityanath said, "What was the public perception of UP before 2017? Riots occurred every other day, curfews lasted for months, and no one was safe. Incumbent governments had appointed their own kin to the recruitment boards and service commissions, completely discrediting the entire process. Not a single recruitment drive was conducted with integrity." He said the young people were forced to migrate, caught "between the devil and the deep blue sea". There were no jobs within UP, yet outside the state, they faced an identity crisis, he said.

Intensifying his attack further, Adityanath said, "Uttar Pradesh became a 'BIMARU' state due to the 'Bimaru' mindset of that government. UP was not 'bimar' (sick); it was the mindset of the governments -- their corrupt and discriminatory mode of working that failed to give due respect to the strength and talent of UP's youth, viewing them as a problem." "We recognised this strength of UP as an economic opportunity. We endeavoured to unlock their potential, which previous regimes had locked away. The results are before you today," he said.

Adityanath said UP, once considered the poorest state and suffering from an identity crisis before 2017, has consistently been a revenue-surplus state for the last six years. It is a vital part of India's growth engine and now ranks among the country's top three economies. We are no longer lagging, the chief minister said.