Will open Mayawati`s parks for poor to hold functions: UP CM

Chandauli (UP): Parks and memorials built during the previous Mayawati regime will be opened to the poor for holding marriage and other ceremonies free of cost, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday.

"When we (examined) the parks for converting them into hospitals, we found that the space was too small for the purpose. "So, we will now open it for the poor to use them as marriage lawns, free of charge," Akhilesh said. He was speaking at Bauri village in Niyamtabad block where he was attending a function to mark the 16th death anniversary of freedom fighter and former MLA Ganji Prasad Yadav. Akhilesh said that the Samajwadi Party government was going to distribute saris amongst poor women with 60 per cent of the saris to be purchased from weavers that they too may benefit. Describing the recent Naxal strike in Chhattisgarh as an unfortunate incident, Akhilesh called for steps to check such such acts while rooting for development of backward areas. PTI