Leaders to discuss ways to make UP 'ideal state'

Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) Political and social leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra will meet here Saturday to discuss ways to develop Uttar Pradesh as an 'ideal state', an official said Thursday.

The discussion on 'Uttar Pradesh To Uttam (ideal) Pradesh - A Blueprint of Agro-based Transformation' is being hosted by the Uttar Pradesh Development Forum, Mumbai (UPDF), and Observer Research Foundation.

Mumbai is home to around four million people from Uttar Pradesh, of whom a majority hails from Avadh and eastern regions.

"Since Uttar Pradesh is an agricultural state, we shall discuss ways and means of using its USP (agriculture) to transform the state, pull it out of backwardness and make it an ideal state," a UPDF official said.

UPDF spokesperson Pankaj Jaiswal said the Avadh and eastern parts of the state are very fertile with abundant water. This can be exploited to grow various types of crops and send them all over the country and abroad.

"For this, there is a need to set up four-five agro-parks in that region and develop an agro-cargo airport at Faizabad for transporting the products to all corners of India and abroad," Jaiswal said.