UTTAR PRADESH

According topmost priority to Women welfare, the Yogi Adityanath government has been taking dedicated steps ensuring all-round Empowerment and uplift of women. In line with the vision, with Rs 150 crore, the government will solemnise the marriage of poor girls belonging to Other Backward Classes.

It may be mentioned here that the has been allocating funds and provides grants for the marriage of poor girls of Backward Classes. The grant is provided by the State Backward Classes Welfare department on applications submitted by any family belonging to the Backward Class seeking to avail of the grant amount. So far, the state government has provided grants of Rs 771 crore to 3,85,514 beneficiaries under the marriage grant scheme.

In the order issued by the department, it has been stated that the benefit of the scheme should be provided as per the prescribed rules and following the instructions completely. The officials must inform the government by the 10th of every month that the amount has been spent under this head. Non-compliance with this will be treated as an irregularity.

Also, the sanctioned amount will not be used for any other work under any circumstances and the remaining amount will have to be deposited in the treasury at the end of the financial year.

In this regard, instructions will be given by the director, Backward Classes Welfare department to the officers concerned in all the districts and divisions to take necessary action.

The total debt burden on the Uttar Pradesh government is estimated to touch Rs 7.84 lakh crore by the end of next fiscal 2023-24 commencing from April 1. The exceeds the size of the annual budget of 2023-24, which is Rs 6, 90 lakh crore. The Reserve Bank Of India has flagged the state governments against the rising debt burden.

Although UPs debt burden has fallen to 32.1% of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2023-24, compared to 34.2% in revised estimates for 2022-23, the sovereign debt in absolute terms is estimated to jump from Rs 7 lakh crore to Rs 7.84 lakh crore during the period.

According to the UP Annual Budget (2023-24), the nominal UP GSDP has been estimated at Rs 24.39 lakh crore in 2023-24.

Interestingly, the estimated public debt of Rs 7.84 lakh crore exceeds the UP Annual Budget of Rs 6.90 lakh crore by Rs 94,000 crore or nearly 14%. In 2022, the RBI had raised concerns over a built-up financial Stress in several states and suggested corrective steps in the five most indebted provinces.

Although UP does not figure among the top indebted states in India, the state witnessed its public debt ratio shoot past 30% of the GSDP during the pandemic years, owing to difficult economic conditions and muted tax collection, a phenomenon which was pan-Indian as well as global following Covid-19 exigencies.

While UP had successfully tamed the public debt ratio below 30% till 2020-21, it increased to 33.4% and 34.2% during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 (revised estimates) fiscal years, respectively, due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, UP is estimated to receive about Rs 71,200 crore (2.9% of GSDP) in loans from the Centre during 2023-24, compared to Rs 51,860 crore (2.5% of GSDP) during 2022-23.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that Uttar Pradesh had emerged as a preferred destination for investors at the Global Investors Summit-2023 (GIS-2023) as the government had extended all help to the entrepreneurs.

Earlier, Chairman, Vinamra Agarwal, CEO of Technical Associates Industries Ltd. and Chairman of the CII Uttar Pradesh State Council, said that the Netherlands orange and saffron were similar. The Netherlands has a high trade surplus. It is a leading manufacturer in Food Processing, refining and engineering. In the food processing , the Netherlands and UP share many similarities.

A Population of 17 million and the fifth largest GDP in the European Union (EU) make the Netherlands a major international player. We are working together in many sectors, including Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and food processing. There is a PARTNERSHIP of $ 23 billion between the two countries and the Netherlands is a major Investment partner of India, he added.

As part of the efforts to develop better healthcare facilities in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US-based Saloni Heart Foundation in San Francisco to establish a Centre of Excellence in Pediatric Cardiology Unit at Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences.

The centre, to be set up in collaboration with the Saloni Heart Foundation, will ensure effective treatment of congenital heart defects in children in the state. The centre will also enable treatment of thousands of children every year.

A UP delegation that visited the US recently to raise investments and to invite companies to the Global Investors Summit-2023, signed an MoU with the Saloni Heart Foundation. The foundation will set up a 200-bed pediatric cardiology centre at SGPGIMS at a cost of Rs 480 crore.

In a high-level meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Additional Chief Secretary ( and Industrial Development) Arvind Kumar said that during the US tour of GIS-2023, an Indian-origin couple living in California, Mili and Himanshu Seth, expressed their desire to build a unit for the treatment of congenital heart defects in children. This led to the signing of an agreement between the UP government and Saloni Heart Foundation to set up a pediatric cardiology centre at SGPGIMS at a cost of Rs 480 crore.

As part of the Citizen Engagement under Swachh Survekshan 2022, a bit.ly link was launched in schools by the executive officer of Jugsalai to ensure participation of children in Swachh Competition.

Officials informed that it is a type of link that clicks on a Google Form. By filling and submitting this form, children can directly participate in the Swachh Competition. Executive officer Jagdish Prasad said that the Swachh Bharat Mission is not only based on cleanliness, but also on reducing the production of waste. This link based competition has been organised to make the competition paperless and support Digital India.

Children can now participate in Jingle. It is a type of short song or tune which is used to spread public awareness. Under this, they can participate by making a jingle on any topic related to the Swachh Bharat Mission.

With the aim to give an impetus to , the Uttar Pradesh government has approved the new Solar Energy policy that aims to generate 22,000 megawatt of solar energy within the next five years.

This includes the target of 14,000 MW by establishment of solar park, 4,500 MW from solar rooftop (residential area), 1,500 MW from solar rooftop (non-residential institution) and 2,000 MW power generation from PM Kusum Yojana components.

The new policy also talks about creation of posts called Surya Mitra, who will help in maintenance of solar Plants

The cabinet has approved (Kusum C-2) for the establishment of 2,000 MW capacity solar plants of separate agricultural feeders. Approval has been given to provide 70 per cent subsidy to Scheduled Tribe farmers and 60 per cent subsidy to other farmers and a total grant of Rs 1,000 crore in five years during the policy period, the minister said.

The cabinet has decided to provide 100 per cent exemption in stamp duty on purchase of land for solar units. In addition, all solar power generation projects are exempted from obtaining environmental clearance while grid-connected solar PV projects are exempted from obtaining no objection certificate (NOC) from Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board.

In the state, a target of 1,500 MW power generation has been set by setting up solar rooftop systems on the roofs of non-residential buildings such as government buildings and all Types of government or non-government educational institutions.

It has also been decided to provide net metering facilities on solar rooftop systems installed on the roofs of non-residential buildings of this category.

SOLAR CITY: Ayodhya city will be developed as a model solar city. Apart from this, 16 municipal corporations of the state and Noida will also be developed as solar cities.

A solar city means that a minimum of 10 per cent of the estimated total demand of conventional energy of the city is met from the solar power plants installed in the city area. For this, according to the 2011 Census of the municipal area, financial assistance will be provided by the State Government to the municipal corporations for setting up solar power plants at the rate of Rs 100 per person.

JOB CREATION: Additional manpower will be created for the maintenance of solar power plants. For this, 30,000 youths will be given training in maintenance of solar power plants and they will be named as ‘Surya Mitra’. In this way EMPLOYMENT will be created for these ‘Surya Mitras’.

It is being organised by Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre of Varanasi.

The utsav will also celebrate the centuries-old luminaries like Goswami Tulsidas, Sant Raidas, Sant , Munshi Premchand, Bhartendu Harishchandra, and Shri Jaishankar Prasad.

Event is being organised with the support of Uttar Pradesh State Government and Varanasi Administration as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.