Uttar Pradesh govt presents supplementary budget of Rs 7,302 crore

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday presented a supplementary budget of Rs 7,301.52 crore in the state Legislative Assembly for financial year 2021-22 to meet additional expenditure.

The supplementary budget was presented by Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Khanna said the supplementary budget is very small and should be passed without any discussion.

"It is only 1.33 per cent of the annual budget of Rs 5.5 lakh crore presented by the government earlier," Khanna said.

Introducing the supplementary budget, Khanna said the focus is on extremely important issues of public welfare or fulfilling any particular scheme.

"There are some new demands in this, especially for creating job opportunities for the youth for which Rs 3,000 crore have been allocated. The other highlights are social security fund for advocates, improvement in electricity system, construction of Ambedkar Smarak and Saanskritik Kendra, conservation of cattle and increasing the basic infrastructure in Ayodhya," he said.

He pointed out that in a span of four-and-a-half years of the government, the perception of the public has changed.

"The biggest parameter is the evaluation of any government, and the view of the public is that the Yogi Adityanath government in UP has made new records, and has also broken some records.

"Hence, I would like to urge the House through you (Speaker) to pass the 1.33 per cent supplementary budget without any discussion, it would be good," he said.

Subsequently, Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Choudhary apparently taking a dig at Khanna, said the government has made new records, to which Khanna retorted,"This is true."

Further, pointing at Yogi Adityanath, Khanna said, "He is the Ram of politics, and he is sitting here to defeat the evil powers." This prompted a loud desk-thumping by the members of the ruling party.