UP budget for 2023-24 focuses on youth, development

Lucknow, Feb 22 The Yogi Adityanath government on Wednesday tabled the annual budget 2023-24 in the state Legislative Assembly, and the highlight is that it focuses on the youth and the developmental activities.

Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna presented the budget which was earlier passed in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The finance minister told reporters that it would be the biggest budget in the history of the state.

He said that there had been a 16.8 per cent growth in state GDP and the unemployment rate before 2017 was 14.4 per cent which has come down to 4.2 per cent now and this is a crucial achievement.

Last year, the state government presented an annual budget of Rs 6.15 lakh crore for 2022-23. A supplementary budget for Rs 33,769.55 crore was presented in December 2022, taking the total size of the budget to about Rs 6.50 lakh crore.

The finance minister said that Uttar Pradesh was moving towards development and organised crime has been eradicated from the state in last few years.

He said, "Our focus is on the infrastructure sector, and our goal is to achieve $1 trillion economy."

For Gorakhpur Industrial Corridor, which will come up near the Gorakhpur Link Expressway, the state government proposes to set aside Rs 200 crore.

A provision of Rs 100 crore is proposed for the implementation of the Metro Rail project in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and other cities.

The construction work of the Delhi-Ghaziabad Meerut Corridor Regional Rapid Transit System project is in progress. In the financial year 2023-2024, a provision of Rs 1,306 crore is proposed.

A budget arrangement of Rs 465 crore is proposed for the Agra Metro Rail Project.

A budget arrangement of Rs 585 crore is proposed for the Kanpur Metro Rail Project in the financial year 2023-2024.

A sum of Rs 150 crore is proposed for the development of infrastructure facilities in Lucknow, all development authorities of the state, and for the rope-way service in Varanasi and other cities.

An amount of Rs 1,700 crore is proposed for the construction of railway overhead bridges and Rs 1,850 crore for other bridges.

Rs 235 crore has been allocated for two new link Expressways, i.e, Jhansi Link Expressway and Chitrakoot link Expressway.

A sum of Rs 3,600 crore has been earmarked for tablets and smartphones to students.

To provide free quality education to the children of labourers, one residential school has been established in each division of the state.

So far, 8,314 assistant teachers, 1,890 lecturers and 80 principals have been selected in government schools by the state government in the Secondary Education Department. In aided schools, 25,249 assistant teachers, 5,226 lecturers and 849 principals were selected and appointed by adopting a transparent process.

The state budget earmarks Rs 200 crore for the establishment of the Unity Mall where ODOP products and other handicrafts would be showcased and sold.

Uttar Pradesh will establish State Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development and a sum of Rs 20 crore has been allocated for the purpose.

The state budget has set aside Rs 1,000 crore for the development of residential facilities for police personnel while a sum of Rs 10 crore has been allocated for purchase of vehicles by SDRF and a sum of Rs 850 crore allocated for new police commissionerates.

The budget earmarks Rs 400 crore for effective implementation of Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Other highlights include Rs 600 crore under the Chief Minister Mass Marriage scheme for general category girls, while Rs 150 crore for marriage of OBC girls.

In order to empower rural women, Rs 83 crore has been proposed for Self Help Groups.

A sum of Rs 4,032 crore has been allocated to provide assistance to destitute widows. At present about 32.62 lakh women are being provided assistance in the state.

The state government has set aside Rs 2,491 crore proposed for 14 new medical colleges.