In election year, Akhilesh Yadav ready with please-all budget

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is preparing an election budget that will have something for all sections of society.

The chief minister, who will table the state budget on February 12 — his last budget before the state goes into elections — is giving final touches to a big push to Samajwadi schemes.

According to sources, the schemes that will be flushed with funds in the state budget include, self-employment scheme for youth, power connections in rural areas, solar pumps for farmers, pension schemes for weavers and police emergency centralised services.

The chief minister is keen to publicise and promote schemes that have “Samajwadi” word tagged to them — whether it is the Samajwadi Pension scheme, Samajwadi Swasthya Bima Yojana, Samajwadi Awas Yojana or Samajwadi ambulances.

A major project that will get ample budgetary allocation is the Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway. The eight-lane, access-controlled Lucknow to Ballia expressway will be 384 kms long. The expressway will originate in Lucknow and pass through Barabanki, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur districts before terminating in Ballia.

If sources are to be believed, the thrust of the budget will be on the youth and farmers this year. To assuage the feelings of farmers, who have had a bad year due to inclement weather and drought conditions, the state government proposes to earmark a sum of Rs 2,000 crore for rural drinking water scheme and Rs 1,778 crore for Lohia rural housing scheme.

The government will also propose schemes in the horticulture sector to enable a better deal for farmers growing fruits and vegetables

“This is the last year before we go into elections and all work has to be result-oriented. The time for policymaking is over and this will be the time for implementation. The budget will ensure that the benefits of various schemes begin to reach the target beneficiaries and officials who adopt a laidback attitude will have to face the music”, said a senior UP minister.

Soon after the Budget Session, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav plans to embark on a tour of the state to get feedback about the performance of his government so that he can plug the holes well in time.

The minister said, “We are not going to be complacent after the party’s victory in the recent panchayat elections. All senior ministers and party functionaries will venture out into the field and make an assessment of the situation. The 2017 Assembly elections are crucial for us and we are all set to make a comeback”.