UP Tak Hosts ‘Viksit UP Baithak’ with Key Voices of UP

MUMBAI: When conversations move from drawing rooms to the ground, change tends to follow. UP Tak, the digital-first news platform of the India Today Group, is hosting the Viksit UP Baithak today in Jhansi, putting the spotlight firmly on the aspirations, anxieties and ambitions shaping Uttar Pradesh’s next growth chapter.

Designed as a forum for frank and future-facing dialogue, the baithak brings policymakers, administrators and grassroots voices to the same table to debate what a more prosperous and self-assured Uttar Pradesh should look like. From jobs and industry to health, education and sport, the discussions aim to move beyond slogans and into lived realities.

The line-up features a mix of senior officials and sector experts, including Awanish Kumar Awasthi, former IAS officer and Advisor to the chief minister; Sanjay Kumar Khatri, IAS, CEO of the Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority; and state ministers Hargovind Kushwaha and Manoharlal Panth (Mannu Kori) from the Labour Service Scheme Department. Voices from academia, industry and civil society are also part of the conversation, with participants such as Mukesh Pandey, vice-chancellor, Abhinav Gaur, director, Shatam Jeeva, Rajeev Babbar, president, Laghu Udyog Bharati, and Mukesh Mishra, MD and chairman, Royal City Developer.

Adding a sporting lens to the development debate, coaches Ashok Dhyanchand and Subodh Khandekar, along with player Shivam Anand, are contributing perspectives on talent, infrastructure and opportunity at the grassroots level.

Explaining the intent behind the initiative, Tak Channels managing editor Milind Khandekar said the Viksit UP Baithak was conceived as a space for “honest, informed and forward-looking discussions” at a time when the state is undergoing rapid change. He noted that bringing decision-makers and experts together allows challenges to be addressed through practical solutions rooted in real experience.

All sessions, interviews and panel discussions from the baithak will be streamed on the UP Tak Youtube channel, opening up the dialogue to viewers across the state. By taking the conversation beyond the venue and into the digital public square, UP Tak aims to ensure that the debate on Uttar Pradesh’s future is not just heard, but shared.