During Uttar Pradesh Assembly’s pivotal budget deliberations in Lucknow, Mata Prasad Pandey, the Leader of Opposition, delivered a comprehensive critique of the ruling dispensation. Key flashpoints included an astronomical debt surpassing Rs 9 lakh crore, woefully inadequate doctor-to-patient ratios, and private institutions’ fee arbitrariness.
Pandey debunked growth tall tales, pointing to a per capita income of Rs 1.20 lakh—about 53% of India’s average. ‘Why beat the drum so loudly?’ he probed, exposing fiscal vulnerabilities.
Healthcare drew sharp scrutiny: only 0.37 doctors per 1,000 citizens, defying WHO benchmarks, with rampant referrals burdening patients across facilities, including medical colleges. He insisted on revisiting contract staffing and abolishing referral practices in this vital domain.
In a humorous aside to Minister Brijesh Pathak, ‘I won’t make you sprint, but heed these concerns,’ Pandey said, sparking widespread mirth.
He proposed legislative curbs on private schools’ fee surges, skewering Galgotias University’s recent embarrassment at a Delhi AI event—where their robot dog was exposed as Chinese imports. ‘Exorbitant charges, now doggedly searching,’ he wisecracked, delighting Yogi Adityanath and the assembly.
Decrying the downgrade in university standards from Allahabad’s golden era, he called for academic revival. On environment, he passionately rallied for Ganga’s rescue from pollution, demanding swift governmental strides.
Minister Suresh Khanna’s early objection gave way to debt figure validation, framing the opposition’s assault as a catalyst for accountability in UP’s legislative arena.