Additional financial requirement for clearing the mounting dues of sugarcane farmers and for organising the Kumbh Mela 2019 has been pitched in the Supplementary Budget for the fiscal 2018-19 of the Uttar Pradesh government.

A supplementary demand for Rs 34833.244 crore was presented in the Vidhan Sabha by Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal in the ongoing monsoon session of the House on Monday. In the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council), the supplementary budget was presented by Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma.

Later, both Houses of the state legislature were adjourned till Tuesday.

By presenting the supplementary budget of a whopping Rs 34833.244 crore, the Bharatiya Janata Party government lead by Yogi Adityanath has ventured to assuage the sentiments of the farming community, especially the cane growers, and complete the unfinished projects , including the public welfare measures.

Non-payment of cane dues to the farmers has been a cause for concern for the BJP government. To offset the problem, a demand of about Rs. 5535 crore has been made in the budget for the payment of cane dues of 2016-17 and 2017-18 sugar season.

The cane price dues are pending on the mills belonging to the private sector and those under the cooperative sector and the UP Sugar Corporation Limited. A financial demand of Rs 7800 crore has been included in the budget.

The upcoming Kumbh Mela beginning in January 2019 is one of the focus areas of the government with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath leaving no stone unturned to ensure its success. Towards this end the supplementary budget contains an additional financial demand of Rs. 850 crore for the Kumbh Mela, 2019.

Apart from the Kumbh Mela, the state government is also focusing on the ‘Pravasi Bhartiya Divas’ (NRI celebration ) which is to be held on January 21-23, 2019. An additional financial requirement of Rs. 100 crore has been made in the budget for ‘pravasi Bhartiya divas’.

While a demand of Rs. 500 crore has been made to develop the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s ambitious project of Bundelkhand expressway and the Defence Corridor, the supplementary budget includes a provision of Rs. 800 crore to set up the Jevar international airport in Gautam Buddha Nagar district.

On the medical education front the state government has proposed to set up a satellite centre of King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow in Balrampur district. To set up the satellite centre a demand of Rs. 5 crore has been made in the supplementary budget.

Among the other significant supplementary demands is the one pertaining to developing Bah in Agra and other sites in the memory of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee which is of Rs. 10 crore. Bah is the ancestral village of the former PM who passed away on August 16. In addition to this , Rs. 5 crore is proposed to be spent on developing a centre of excellence in Vajpayee’s memory in DAV College in Kanpur. A cultural programme in Vajpayee’s memory is also proposed for which an additional financial requirement of Rs. 5 crore has been made by the state government.

The supplementary budget includes a financial demand of Rs. 3907 crore for the construction of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural).