Focus areas of the new govt are different from previous one

Lucknow: There is a paradigm shift in approach and thinking of the present government in Uttar Pradesh from the previous one. The change in focus becomes more apparent after closely looking at the outlays for different sectors provided in the first budget of the new government.

The Samajwadi Party government headed by Akhilesh Yadav had put emphasis on the modern gadgets and had proposed to distribute smart phones after victory in assembly elections. It had given laptops to students soon after taking over the reign from Mayawati who had ruled the state before him.

His defeat and change of baton has seen a change in priority. The new ruler, Yogi Adiyanath, instead of providing laptops would like to make available to students shoes, socks and sweaters, meeting their basic needs.

His government has allocated more funds to shelters for cows, places associated with Hindu gods and schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inviting opposition's charge of pursuing " Hindu agenda".

The previous government had made a provision of only Rs five crores for cow-shelters. It was found too small by the new government and, therefore, it has earmarked Rs 50 crore for the same.

In this year's budget, as much as Rs 1240 crores have been provided for Ramayana, Krishna and Buddhist circuts. For infrastructural development in three religious towns, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Mathura another sum ( Rs 800 crores) has been allocated.

Like Prime Minister who is taking good care of his constituency-- Varanasi-- he has laid emphasis on Gorakhpur, the place he was elected from. A sports stadium is one of the proposals made in the budget for the town in the eastern part of the state.

Most of the centre-sponsored schemes too have received his attention. Prime Minister's housing scheme has got an outlay of Rs 3000 crores.

Similarly, his rural road project, swachhta Abhiyan and pro-farmer projects will receive good support from the state.