Lucknow, Jan 20 (IANS): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Thursday that he will revive the Yash Bharti awards when he comes to power.

He also said that his government would revive the old pension system of government employees which had been a long pending demand.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Akhilesh said that the Yash Bharti awards were set up to honour the people from Uttar Pradesh who had excelled in their fields.

The Yash Bharti award recipients include Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah, Raj Babbar, Nadira Babbar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui among others.

Bhajan singer Anup Jalota, lyricist Sameer, singer Rekha Bharadwaj, classical singer Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Olympian Ashok Kumar and Paramveer Chakra awardee Yogendra Singh Yadav were also recipients of this award.

When Yogi Adityanath came to power, he discontinued the awards.

Akhilesh said that he would not only revive the awards but also institute 'Nagar Bharti' awards at the district level.

Talking about the old pension scheme, Akhilesh said that it would benefit 12 lakh people.