Lucknow: Amid a
walkout by the main opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Tuesday presented a Rs.2.21
lakh crore budget, the biggest in the history of the state.
He announced budgetary allocations for setting up a metro rail in
the state capital and Rs.750 crore for a loan waiver for farmers.
The budget, the second to be tabled by the chief minister who also
holds the finance portfolio, is 19.4 percent more than last year's
budget. It levies no major taxes and is being seen as a populist
one. The chief minister also announced that people with an annual
income less than Rs.36,000 will be given free houses. Besides,
girls would get free education in degree colleges, both government
and government-aided.
The budget has an estimated 2.94 percent deficit in the financial
year 2013-14.
The chief minister has allocated Rs.32,886 crore for education,
Rs.20,292 crore for social welfare schemes, Rs.10,654 crore for
health, Rs.26,141 crore for sprucing infrastructure and
value-addition on roads, bridges, expressways, flyovers and
Rs.17,774 crore for agriculture. It earmarks Rs.1,200 crore for
unemployment allowance and Rs.100 crore for the development of
Poorvanchal.
BSP general secretary and leader of opposition Swami Prasad Maurya
accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) government of trying to fool the
people through the new budget.
"What is the purpose of presenting the new budget when more than
75 percent of last year's budget remains unspent," he told
reporters outside the assembly.
Justifying the walkout by his party, which many felt was not in
sync with parliamentary traditions, Maurya said his party cannot
be "party to the loot" by the Akhilesh Yadav government.
|