UP govt presents Rs 4.79 lakh cr budget; Opp parties term it populist

The Uttar Pradesh government Thursday allocated Rs 1,200 crore for a scheme for girls and Rs 612 crore for stray cattle and construction of cow shelters in the Budget for 2019-20 financial year ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The Yogi Adityanath government presented a Rs 4.9 lakh crore budget, which is 12 per cent higher than the amount of Rs 4,28,384.52 crore earmarked for the current financial year ending March 2019.

After presentation of his government's third budget, Adityanath said it is the biggest one in the history of Uttar Pradesh.

"The budget should be 'lok kalyankari' (welfare-oriented) rather than 'lok lubhawan' (populist)," he said even as the Opposition parties described it as a populist budget.

In his speech, punctuated with Urdu couplets, Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal announced new schemes worth Rs 21,212.95 crore, including the 'Kanya Sumangala Yojana' to improve health and educational standard of girls as well as