Uttar Pradesh budget kicks off with total outlay of over Rs. 384 K crore

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India] July 11 (ANI): The Yogi Adityanath Government presented its first annual budget for Uttar Pradesh today with a total outlay of Rs. 3,84,659 crore. Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal presented the budget for fiscal 2017-18, where he said that the target is to push the state's growth rate up to 10 percent in the next five years. "Rs. 36,000 crore was arranged in the budget to forgive the debts of the farmers. Whereas, a budget of Rs. 300 crore has been set for the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Municipal Development Plan in 2017-18," Agarwal added. He further said that the new schemes of Rs. 55781 crores have been included in the budget. "Our government has provided 150 ambulances with ventilators and the goal is to include 100 such buses. In such districts where there are no medical colleges, we aim of establishing the new ones," Agarwal asserted. He added that the Yogi Government has kept the goal of freeing the state from open defecation till October 2, 2018. "We are committed to the overall development of the youth without any discrimination in line with the Public Welfare Resolution letter. A budget of Rs. 385 crores has been set for the slum development plan in 2017-18," Agarwal said. He further said that there is a plan to recruit 1.50 lakh police personnel in the state. "Minority students in Uttar Pradesh have a budget of 791.83 million for the scholarship. A budget of Rs. 288 crores for Lucknow-Metro Rail Regions is being setup while Rs. 598 crores budget for widening roads," Agarwal added. He added that this budget also sets Rs. 50 crore for Uttar Pradesh State Road Development Corporation. "The proposed budget also consists of Rs. 3000 crores for the Prime Minister's Urban Housing Scheme and Rs. 300 crores for special plans of Purvanchal," Agarwal said. He asserted that this budget is 0.9 percent more than the 2016-17 budget. The Uttar Pradesh budget session will conclude on July 28. The Opposition parties gear up to corner Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over law and order front and other issues. This is for the first time that the state government will need such a big amount of additional funds in a financial year. (ANI)