The Uttarakhand government on Wednesday presented Rs 77,407.08 crore budget for 2023-24, with focus mainly on education, youth welfare and health infrastructure development.
Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal said it is an inclusive budget which reaches out to the last man on the street, youth, farmers and women, and gives priority to the deprived.
The budget, tabled in the state assembly on the third day of the ongoing session, has made the largest allocation of Rs 10,459.55 crore for education and youth welfare followed by the health department which has received an allocation of Rs 4,217.87 crore. The session is taking place in the state’s summer capital Gairsain.
“Making better healthcare facilities available to the common people are our priority. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country where every family enjoys the facility of cashless or free treatment under Atal Ayushman Yojana for which an allocation of Rs 400 crore has been made in the budget,” Aggarwal said.
An allocation of Rs 3,343 crore has been made for civic bodies and Rs 2,850 crore for social welfare, women and child welfare departments. The PWD has received a budgetary allocation of Rs 2,791.83 crore.
The budget has a revenue surplus of Rs 4,309.55 crore. There is an increase of 18.05 per cent in this year’s total budget expenditure and a rise of 21.16 per cent in capital expenditure compared to last year. The budget reflects our commitment to the goal of building a leading Uttarakhand by the year 2025.
