Sight on 2012 * Maya govts please-all budget with no new tax for people With an eye on Assembly elections due in 2012,Mayawati government on Tuesday presented a please-all budget with emphasis on extending the benefits of welfare schemes to Dalits and other deprived sections of the society. As the state goes to Assembly polls in the first quarter of 2012,the government in its fifth and last budget proposed no new taxes for the financial year 2011-12. In 2012,the government will bring only the vote-on-account for the first six months of the next fiscal 2012-13 for meeting the non-plan committed expenditure of the government like the salary,pension and repayment of loans and interest. Presenting the budget,state Finance Minister Lalji Verma said the Chief Minister has always endeavoured for uplift of the marginalised sections of the society and was all for providing for the basic needs of these sections and keeping them at the focus of every decision. Verma asserted that the budget carried forward the policy of well-being of all sections of society. In a bid to woo the partys traditional voters,the finance minister announced hike in outlay for the Special component plan for the scheduled castes to Rs 9,722 crore,which is 6.8 per cent more then the provision made in the last year. In case of social welfare schemes for the poor and the disadvantaged sections of society,a provision of Rs 10,084 crore has been made which is 15.8 higher than the last year. For shelter to Dalits under BPL category,the budget provision has been increased by Rs 200 crore to Rs 550 crore under Mahamaya Avas Yojna. The monthly pension for the poor covered under the Mahamaya Garib Arthik Madad Yojna,has been hiked to Rs 400 and a provision of Rs 1,081 cr has been made in the budget. The budget provision for daughters marriage and medical treatment has been increased to Rs 268 crore from Rs 175 cr in the previous budget. Furthermore,Rs 1,084 cr have been earmarked for reimbursement of fees and scholarship under the scholarship schemes for students of backward classes. For the backward region of Bundelkhand an additional provision of Rs 1,200 crore has been made in the budget. Keeping in view the specific requirements of eastern UP and filling critical gaps,the state government has allocated a sum of Rs 291 crore for the purpose. The government has also made a budgetary allocation of Rs 6,133 crore for rural development,including Rs 500 cr as state share to cover 70 lakh families under MNREGA in the next fiscal. On the infrastructure front,the government spending on roads and bridges has been upscaled as has been in the energy sector. An amount of Rs 6,775 crore has been earmarked for the construction of roads and bridges,which is 16.6 crore more than the last year. And for the energy sector,a provision of Rs 8,227 crore has been made in the budget. At Rs 16,9416.38 crore,the size of the budget is 10.6 per cent more than last years budget and the fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 18,959.66 crore,which is 2.97 per cent of stateGDP.
