Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav presented his first budget in the state assembly on Friday morning. The 2012-13 budget is 18 per cent higher than yesteryear and it is of Rs 2 lakh crore.
The budget has allocated Rs 33263 crore to education sector, which is 20 per cent higher than last year. Of total amount, Rs 25,109 crore has been made for primary education secondary and Rs 9,613 for secondary education. Significantly, out of total budget of secondary education, one third is for distribution of tablets and laptops to students.
The higher education has got Rs 2501 crore in which 36 colleges will be constructed in districts with low enrollment ratio. A provision of Rs 507 crore has been made for vocational educations, Rs 479 crote for technical education and Rs 1907 crore for medical education. The government has announced construction of 14 new medical colleges in different parts of the state. Over 1100 crore has been allocated for unemployment allowance to be distributed among nine lakh BPL youth. The money for laptops, tablets and unemployment allowance has been arranged by diverting funds earmarked by previous chief minister for construction and maintenance of Dalit memorials and parks.
The state government has made special allocations to fulfill the poll promises made by the Samajwadi Party before elections. The promises include loan waivers to farmers and weavers, minority welfare, laptops and tablets to students, unemployment allowance among other things.
