Yogi Adityanath government to present UP's biggest ever budget
Following Budget 2018, which featured ambitious schemes and a pro-farmer tilt, UP's BJP government is also planning something historic. They will present what is being claimed as the biggest ever UP budget in terms of worth. It is pegged at Rs. 4Lcr. This will be the second budget by CM Yogi Adityanath's government, after it stormed to power last year. Here's more about it.
Yogi normally thinks "big"
Interestingly, this isn't the first time that such a high figure is being quoted. In its first budget, BJP government presented a Rs. 3.84Lcr budget, which was 11% more that SP's last budget. Akhilesh Yadav government's budget was worth Rs. 3.46Lcr.
How will the budget session proceed?
The budget session will begin on February 8, with Governor's address to the joint sitting of the Assembly. The budget will be tabled on February 16. After that, the session will be adjourned for the highly-publicized UP Investors' Summit and Yogi cabinet's Lathmaar Holi Celebrations. It will begin again on February 26 and will be adjourned during March 1-4 for Holi festival.
What has Speaker HN Dixit warned the members about?
Separately, Speaker HN Dixit warned that he will expel members disrupting governor Ram Naik's address at the joint sitting. Shamefully, for nearly two decades, it has become customary for the Opposition to disrupt the address. Last year, the Opposition had created a pandemonium. Protesting the state's law-and-order situation, they had thrown paper balls at the podium with marshals dodging them with files.
This year, what is the Opposition's play?
Earlier there was an all-party meeting where the Opposition assured cooperation in running the session smoothly. However, they don't intend to stick to their promise. SP, BSP and Congress will rake issues like the Kasganj communal violence and "fake encounters." Apart from this, they plan to corner Yogi on "targeting" the minority community, which lives in fear, and also on the plight of farmers.
Meanwhile, what will the government's budget entail?
This year's budget will be crucial for building public opinion before 2019 LS elections. It might focus on improving economic activities and infrastructure ensuring relief to distressed farmers. They will allocate funds for the Poorvanchal Expressway project and metro projects. As Yogi has declared 2018 as the "year of empowerment of youth," budget will concentrate on job creation, education, health, start-ups and sports.
