Budget 2020: Thumbs up to young Uttar Pradesh, infra push

LUCKNOW: Staying away from populist schemes and freebies, the Yogi Adityanath government chose to focus on infrastructure, industry and youth welfare in its fourth budget tabled on Tuesday. It simultaneously catered to the BJP's core constituency by earmarking fresh funds for beautification and development of key religious places.
Finance minister Suresh Khanna tabled the budget of Rs 5.12 lakh crore, which is Rs 33,000 crore more than the previous one. Out of this, the total worth of new schemes to be launched is Rs 10,967 crore. The fiscal deficit has been pegged at Rs 53,195 crore, which is 2.97% of the estimated GSDP.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath described the budget as development-oriented which would be instrumental in achieving $1 trillion economy for the state to fulfill PM Narendra Modi's dream of $5 trillion economy for the country.
While the Opposition criticized the government for neglecting farmers and rural UP, government sources said in departments like agriculture and irrigation, the focus is more on the implementation of ongoing programmes and projects.
"The Yogi government has been dedicating its budget to a theme. The first budget was dedicated to farmers, the second to industrial development and the third focused on women empowerment. This time, the focus is on the youth," said a government spokesperson.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav described the budget as a historical illusion, which failed to address the need of the hour. BSP president Mayawati dismissed it as a list of undeliverable promises.
In a bid to tackle growing unemployment, the government has fixed Rs 2,500 monthly stipend for the youth who would be made employable through special skill development programmes.
For the self-employment, motivation and skill development, it announced 'youth hubs' in all 75 districts. The budget earmarked Rs 1,200 crore for these youth hubs.
Rs 2k-crore each for proposed Ganga e-way & Jewar airport
By earmarking Rs 2,000 crore for the proposed Ganga Expressway from Meerut to Prayagraj, Rs 2,000 crore for Jewar International Airport, Rs 500 crore for international airport in Ayodhya and generous funds for Metros in Kanpur, Agra and Gorakhpur, the government has given top priority to infrastructure development to improve road connectivity through expressways, roads and airways.
The Ganga Expressway — tipped to be India’s longest at 637 km — is the CM’s dear project and this is for the first time that funds have been allocated to it. At DefExpo 2020 last week, Yogi had announced that the foundation would be laid for this project by the end of this year. PM Modi is already slated to lay the foundation of Bundelkhand Expressway on February 29.
Yogi government has given a strong political message to its core constituencies by allotting funds for religious places like Ayodhya, Varanasi, Vrindavan and Gorakhpur. Ayodhya which has been at centre stage of saffron party’s political rise, has been elevated for development as a smart city and Rs 500 crore has been allocated for an international airport to be developed there. For beautification of Kashi Vishwanath Temple campus, the government has announced Rs 200 crore.