LUCKNOW, July 16 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said before 2017, Uttar Pradesh had neither employment opportunities for the youth nor a transparent recruitment system.

Without naming the Samajwadi Party, he alleged government jobs were under the control of a single family in the past, and nothing could be done without paying money.

He also said Uttar Pradesh was never a BIMARU state, rather, the thinking and working style of previous governments symbolised a diseased mentality.

Contrasting the past with the present, he said now, the state's large youth population was its greatest strength and demographic dividend rather than a challenge, and the government was equipping them with skills to transform the demographic div...