Lucknow, Nov 26 (PTI) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said there has been an almost six-fold rise in the number of people filing income tax returns in eastern UP in the last five years, reflecting a faster economic growth of the region. The number of people filing the IT return in the eastern UP has gone up to 21.83 lakh till March 31, 2021 as compared to 3.80 lakh in 2016. She was speaking after inaugurating a newly built "Pratyaksha Kar Bhawan" here in presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. “This is the potential of economic activity in this region. The number of income tax filers have gone up and income increased, which is used for development activity,” she said. Sitharaman also praised the Adityanath government work in the state, saying UP has launched a successful vaccination drive against covid and is conducting 2.75 tests daily. The number of labs has gone up to 234 and COVID beds to 1.8 lakhs in UP under the chief minister’s stewardship, she added. "This is why there was no shortage in facilities during the second wave of the corona, all this was available for people,” she said. Referring to the large-scale infrastructure activity in the state, she cited the laying of foundation stones and inaugurations of various projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in different parts of the state. These projects would not have been possible had the tax collection not improved, she said, adding the Centre as part of the tax devolution to states paid the March instalment in advance so that there is no hindrance in their spending on infrastructure. Talking of the newly inaugurated Income Tax Building, she said though the land for the same was acquired in 2002, its construction was started only in 2017 and completed in just three years. “Is there any account of 15 years when we had the land with us but no effort was made to make the building?” Sitharaman asked. “The story of this building itself talks about how we utilise our resources,” she said, adding “she is happy to say that the lethargy which had become the mindset has been broken”. “The pre-2014 mindset of it-will-happen-sometime has now changed not only in UP but other parts of the country as well,” she said. The Modi government has been in power since 2014. Speaking earlier, Chief Minister Adityanath said when Sitharaman was the defence minister, the state had got the Defence Corridor work which was going on in UP. Purvanchal and Bundelkhand which had lagged in the race of development after Independence are now being imparted momentum through expressways, Adityanath said, citing the example of Purvanchal Expressway, inaugurated recently by Prime Minister Modi. He said 86 per of cent land has been acquired for the state"s biggest Ganga Expressway and in next month the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for it. The CM said the Uttar Pradesh index of ease of doing business too has gone up to the second spot from the 14th rank. Recalling the time when he had gone to invite Prime Minister Modi for the first "Investor summit" in UP in 2018, Adityanath said the PM had laughed and had said a lot of work will have to be done. "I assured him of doing all the work and urged him to come for the inauguration. The proposal of Rs 4.68 thousand crores investment was received and works of over Rs 3 lakh crores are today on the ground," he said. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary also addressed the function. Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj in his speech exhorted officials of the department to make life simple for taxpayers. PTI SAB SNS RAX RAX