Adityanath govt presents its last Budget before UP polls
Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday presented the last budget of its term, earmarking a big slice of it on infrastructural projects and listing schemes for farmers.
At least Rs 600 crore will be spent on the development and beautification of Ayodhya, including Rs 300 crore for an approach road to the Ram temple for which construction began last year after decades of litigation.
With the assembly elections just a year away, the over Rs 5.5 lakh crore budget includes Rs 27,598 crore for what are being described as new schemes and projects.
The budget presented by Finance Minister Suresh Khanna in the assembly is over Rs 37,410 crore bigger than the previous one, making it the largest in the state so far.
It is also Uttar Pradesh's first paperless budget -- Adityanath claimed it to be a first for any state -- with the MLAs and the media getting no hard copy of the document. From now on, the state will also hold e-Cabinet meetings, the CM said.
Reading out the budget speech from a laptop, Khanna said the target was to make the state "atmanirbhar", or self-reliant.
But the Opposition slammed the effort. "The poor and the farmers were expecting a big relief but their expectations were not met, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav later said.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati called the budget extremely disappointing . Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Misra mocked the paperless tag for exercise, calling the budget truthless .
The 2021-22 Budget sets aside Rs 1,107 crore for the Purvanchal expressway, Rs 1,492 crore for the Bundelkhand expressway and Rs 860 crore for the Gorakhpur link expressway.
For the first time, funds are being set aside for a planned Ganga expressway from Meerut to Allahabad. The BJP government proposes to spend Rs 7,200 crore in the coming year for land acquisition and Rs 489 crore on the road's construction.
Ayodhya, where the construction of the Ram temple began last year , will get at least Rs 640 crore under several heads, including Rs 101 crore for the upcoming 'Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport'.
The budget allocates 2,000 crore for increasing the number of airstrips at the Jewar Airport in Noida to six from the two planned initially.
The document lists outlays for a range of schemes for farmers.
The Atma Nirbhar Krishak Samanvit Vikas Yojna", which aims to double farmers' income, will get Rs 100 crore and the Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana for farmers who meet with an accident Rs 700 crore in the financial year.
The budget also provides Rs 700 crore for a free water scheme for farmers and Rs 400 crore for crop loans. ,
It earmarks Rs 300 crore for schemes for Purvanchal and Rs 210 crore for Bundelkhand under the special areas programme.
The government will spend Rs 1,200 crore on the implementation of the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangla Yojana for the education of girls and Rs 100 crore for fighting malnutrition among women and children under the Mukhyamantri Saksham Suraksha Yojna.
The state's nutrition programme gets over Rs 4,000 crore and 415 crore earmarked for the national nutrition programme. A skill development scheme for women, the Mahila Samarthya Yojna, will get Rs 200 crore this year.
