New Delhi, Dec 11 : Gorakhpur will be developed as a 'Special Education Zone' by the Union Ministry of Education and the study is 'underway' to make it the 'education hub' of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that with the creation of a 'Special Education Zone', the Gorakhpur's tradition of spiritual consciousness and knowledge will be carried forward in the coming days. He said that in line with the needs of the 21st century, the new National Education Policy 2020 is an important initiative towards making the youth 'knowledgeable, virtuous and globalised'. The new education policy will establish India among the leading countries of the world, he added. The union minister was in Gorakhpur on Friday during which he attended the founder's week festival of Maharana Pratap Education Council along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Pradhan asserted that whether it is AIIMS Gorakhpur or Gorakhpur Fertilizer Factory, all the promises made under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, were fulfilled. Pradhan, who is also the BJP's state in-charge for the upcoming assembly elections, said that in Gorakhpur, the land of Lord Shiva and Buddha, 'Yugpurush' Mahant Digvijaynath had taken up the responsibility of the development and advancement of the society in the region by moving beyond the spiritual consciousness centuries ago, which later Mahant Avaidyanath and today Yogi Adityanath is taking forward. The union minister, on the occasion, also paid tributes to late General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others who died recently in a chopper crash. /IANS