Yogi delivers on farm loan waivers of Rs 36,000 crore

The Yogi Adityanath government today presented its first Rs 3,84,659.71 crore budget for 2017-18, making a special provision of Rs 36,000 crore to honour its poll promise of farm loan waiver through debt redemption.

Presenting the budget in the Assembly, Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal said the budget is 10.9 per cent higher than last fiscal's and earmarks Rs 55,781.96 crore for new schemes.

The farm loan waiver was a major promise in the BJP's election manifesto and the fulfilment of the commitment was a big challenge before the Adityanath government, which has just completed 100 days in office.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described the budget as "progress" and asserted that his government is determined to fulfilling the pre-poll commitments made by his party.

Starting his speech eulogising the massive mandate for his party in the last Assembly elections with a triumph over "pseudo-secular and vested coalitions", Agarwal mentioned the challenges of the government in the form of a dismal state of affairs it inherited from the previous regimes.
Elaborating on the budgetary provisions for farmers and villages, he said the government has brought in a package for potato growers and ensured payment of cane dues worth Rs 22,682 crore in the first 100 days of coming to power.