Despite pandemic, UP sees rise in banking business

Lucknow, July 14 The decision of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to impose partial curfew in the state instead of complete lockdown in the second wave of the pandemic, has yielded positive results for the people and the economy of the state.

While welfare schemes remained uninterrupted during this period, the government's coffers continued to gain with exemption of industrial activities under strict guidelines to guard against the deadly virus.

As a result, there has been an increase of Rs 97,002 crore during the current financial year despite the pandemic, taking the total business of the state to Rs 19.37 lakh crore from Rs 16.91 lakh crore in March, 2020.

According to Brijesh Kumar Singh, coordinator of UP State Level Banking Committee (UPSLBC), the total bank deposits in the state from January to March 2021 went up to Rs 12.7 lakh crore, a rise of Rs 59,345 crore since December 2020.

The state government has also exceeded targets in several welfare schemes, including Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme and Chief Minister Youth Self Employment Scheme.

Besides, the government gave away loans to the tune of Rs 27,875 crore to 47.38 lakh units under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, achieving 99 per cent of the target in this regard.

The Yogi Adityanath government has also achieved 80 per cent of the Annual Credit Plan target in the current financial despite

Digital transactions have also shot up in Uttar Pradesh in the pandemic and the subsequent curfew.

The total online transactions in the state were recorded at Rs 391 crore by the end of March, 2021, against Rs 189 crore in March, 2020, registering an increase of 106 per cent.

Siddhartha Nagar and Firozabad have achieved total digitization in the recent months.