Akhilesh govt’s freebies to cost state Rs 1500 cr more

Rs 139 crore has been sought for the Rani Laxmi Bai pension scheme meant for BPL families who are not covered under any other welfare scheme. For this scheme, Rs 1,111 crore was allocated in the budget.

Among other freebies, the government has demanded Rs 200 crore for the facility of free water from government tubewells and canals to farmers, Rs 50 crore for waiving pending power dues of power loom weavers, and Rs 16.40 crore for the honorarium of Loktantra Rakshak Senanis of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.

Besides the freebies, the government’s other calculations, too, seem to have gone haywire. Rs 100 crore has been sought for road widening and strengthening for Kumbh. In the budget, there was an allocation of Rs 256 crore for this purpose.

The supplementary demands include many for the Etawah-Mainpuri-Kannauj belt, which is the political base of the Mulayam family.

Rs 1 crore each has been sought for the construction of the Etawah campus of Agriculture and Research University, Kanpur; a cricket stadium in Kannauj; a sports college in Saifai, medical college in Badaun, and a girls’ inter-college in Saifai.

In addition, there is Rs 2.5 crore for developing sports facilities in Saifai, Rs 1.5 crore for Rural Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Saifai, Rs 1.5 crore has been earmarked each for setting up heart care and cancer facilities at the medical college in Kannauj and Rs 4.23 crore for purchasing land for setting up a central school

... contd.