Yogi govt allocates budget for marriage of poor Muslim girls

In its first supplementary budget for the current financial year, UP government has made an additional provision of Rs 74 crore towards giving monetary aid for the marriage of poor girls belong

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has made budgetary allocation for the marriage of poor Muslim girls in the state.

In its first supplementary budget for the current financial year, the state government has made an additional provision of Rs 74 crore towards giving monetary aid for the marriage of poor girls belonging to the minority communities.

Earlier, the Yogi government has provided additional funds of Rs 10 crore for setting up of multi-purpose educational hubs in minority-dominated areas of Uttar Pradesh.

The budgetary allocation is in sharp contrast to the allegations mounted by the Opposition parties against Yogi government for safe-guarding the majority while neglecting the interest of the minorities. At several occasions, Yogi has stated several times that he supports ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, following the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Supplementary budget is tabled to get the legislature approval for meeting additional expenses during the course of the financial year over ongoing or proposed projects. Tabled in the UP legislature on Monday, the supplementary budget of over Rs 11,388 crore was passed by the UP Assembly on Tuesday. Of the total supplementary budget, about Rs 6,773 crore and Rs 4,615 crore were allocated for the revenue and capital expenditure heads respectively.

Earlier in its maiden Annual Budget 2017-18 presented in July 2017, the Yogi Government had allocated approximately Rs 394 crore for the modernisation of registered madarsas in UP, including the introduction of modern subjects in their curriculum along with Islamic religious studies.

The UP Annual Budget had made total allocation of Rs 2,476 crore to the Minority Welfare Department of the state, including Rs 791 crore for giving the scholarships to minority students. Besides, Rs 150 crore was also allocated towards fee grants.

More than Rs 18 crore was allocated for setting up girls’ hostel in the minority-dominated pockets with a view to promoting their education. Besides, under the Multisectoral District Development Fund, budgetary allocation of Rs 340 crore was provided.

With a fresh supplementary budgetary allocation of Rs 84 crore, the annual budget of the UP Minority Welfare Department has also increased to Rs 2,560 crore.

Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government has provided funds in the supplementary budget for the marriage of girls belonging to the poor among the general categories, backward and Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes as well.

Under the UP Social Welfare Department, the total budgetary allocation for the marriage of girls hailing from backward castes stands at Rs 154 crore, followed by general categories at over Rs 41 crore. The consolidated supplementary budget funds allocated for the marriage of poor girls in the state total about Rs 270 crore for the current financial year.