UP budget focuses on minorities, farmers and youth

Lucknow, Feb 24: Unveiling a slew of populist schemes, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday presented a Rs 3.02 lakh crore annual budget for 2015-16, 10.2 per cent more than last fiscal.

In his fourth budget which shows a deficit of 2.96 per cent, Yadav earmarked Rs 9,388.79 crore for new schemes apparently with an eye on the Assembly elections due in 2017.

Keeping in mind the interest of minorities, the Chief Minister pegged Rs 2,776 crore for welfare schemes concerning them besides proposing Rs 2,727 crore for Samajwadi Pension scheme.

For his pet scheme of distribution of laptops among students, he proposed Rs 100 crore. To strengthen the transport system in the state capital, a sum of Rs 425 crore has been proposed for the ongoing metro project.

He also allocated Rs 400 crore to clean river Gomti. The government decided to observe 2015-16 as farmers' year during which various welfare schemes and programmes will be iniated for them, the Chief Minister said.

Yadav said the state's growth rate for this fiscal has been estimated at five per cent.

PTI