Budget inclusive and aimed at holistic development, says Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

LUCKNOW: Calling the first budget of his second tenure as chief minister "holistic and inclusive', Yogi Adityanath said that the document is aimed at fulfilling the government's promises to the people of the state.
As an example of its commitment, he said, the government has included 44 promises mentioned by BJP in its pre-poll Sankalp Patra in the budget. Listing out the various initiatives the government has taken, the CM said that the budget has doubled over the past years, while the state's revenue has also gone up substantially, even though two years were impacted heavily by Covid-19.
Anti-corruption units for 8 districts: CM
The budget is based on the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra released by BJP before the election. There were 130 promises made in that and we have included 44 of those in this budget. The budget has been made keeping in mind the 25 crore people of the state, including the poor, marginalised, women, youth etc," he said.

Calling this the largest budget for the state till now, the CM said that it had doubled since 2015-16. "In 2015-16, the budget was about Rs 3 lakh crore. This time, it is Rs 6,15,518 crore, more than double. As we have increased our ambit, our revenue has also increased. In 2016-17, the revenue through VAT and sales tax was Rs 51,800 crore. In 2021-22, it went up to Rs 90,000 crore even though the two years before that were impacted by Covid-19 when businesses suffered losses and the economy was hurt by the lockdown," the CM said. He added that in 2016-17, excise collections stood at Rs 14,271, which had gone up to Rs 36,231 in 2021-22. The revenue from mining went up from Rs 1,548 crore to Rs 2,662 crore.
He added that despite the size of the budget, the state would remain well within the centrally set limit of 4.5% of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management.
Keeping in mind the aspirations of the people, he said, the government had allocated funds to provide two cylinders a year to a family under the Ujjwala Yojna scheme. In a push to organic farming, the government has set aside funds to link all of Bundelkhand to organic farming. A 'bhav sthirta kosh' has been set up for farmers for crops like tomato, onion and potato. Under the PM Kusum scheme, more than 15,000 solar panels will be set up in the state this year.
"A Garib Kalyan card will be issued under the Garib Kalyan scheme. For this, a survey will be carried out to identify those left out of both central and state schemes. The government has also identified sectors through which the state aims to ensure that at least one person from each family has a job," he said.
Major allocations have been made to social welfare schemes, like pensions and samuhik vivah schemes. From Rs 250 crore last year, funds for the marriage scheme have gone up to Rs 600 crore. The Nirashrit Mahila pension fund has been increased to Rs 4,032 crore. Old age pension has also increased from Rs 3,600 crore to Rs 7,000 crore this year.
Other than investment in tourism, the government has also set aside Rs 100 crore for the Maha Kumbh, scheduled to be held in 2025. The CM said that preparation for the event will commence this year itself.
Calling education - which was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years - the biggest challenge for the government, the CM said that work will be done to bring in technology in basic, secondary and higher education. Funds have been allocated for smart classes.
An anti-corruption organisation unit will be set up in eight districts while woman police battalions are to be set up in three cities, including Lucknow. Another Rs 400 crore has been allocated for the Bundelkhand General Bipin Rawat defence and industrial corridor and Rs 263 for the one district-one product scheme. Industrial areas will also be developed in districts, including Ayodhya and Prayagraj.