Lucknow: State Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyay held a review meeting in his office regarding the preparation of the budget for the upcoming financial year and the progress of departmental schemes. In the meeting, departmental officials gave information to the minister about various subjects and schemes. Minister Yogendra Upadhyay said that the Yogi government is committed to improving the quality of higher education and providing global level education to the students. He directed the departmental officers to give priority to the interests of students and teachers while preparing the budget proposal. He also talked about paying special attention to increasing the use of new technologies in education and encouraging digital education. Plans to encourage research and innovation in higher education were discussed in the meeting. The Minister directed that provision of special funds should be made to promote research work in the universities and colleges of the state. He said that the purpose of education is incomplete without research and innovation. We have to prepare the youth for the future. Issues like infrastructure development of universities and colleges and appointment of teachers were also discussed in the meeting. The Minister said that the priority of the government is to develop infrastructure facilities and ensure availability of teachers in all institutions. The Minister stressed on effective implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP). He said that a roadmap should be prepared to implement NEP, so that students can get quality education as well as employment opportunities. At the end of the meeting, the Minister directed the officials to implement all the schemes in a time bound manner. He said that delay in the plans will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Raising the level of education is our priority and for this everyone will have to work together. Principal Secretary MP Aggarwal, Special Secretary Girijesh Tyagi, Shibu Giri and departmental officers were present in the meeting.