With an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday presented its 10th consecutive budget with a historic outlay of ₹9,12,696 crore. Finance Minister Suresh Khanna announced several key sops, primarily focusing on female students, youth empowerment, and rural development.

A major highlight of the budget is the “Rani Laxmibai Scooty Yojana,” designed to provide free scooters to meritorious female students pursuing higher education. An initial allocation of ₹400 crore has been made for this scheme to reduce female dropout rates. Additionally, under the Swami Vivekananda Youth Empowerment Scheme, the government plans to distribute 40 lakh new tablets and smartphones to the youth, with a dedicated budget of ₹2,374 crore.

For women’s economic independence, the budget proposed setting up dedicated ‘Women Job Placement Centers’ across the state. The Finance Minister highlighted the success of BC Sakhis (Banking Correspondent Women Agents), who have facilitated transactions worth over ₹39,000 crore in 58,000 gram panchayats. To bolster safety, the government is expanding CCTV surveillance and strengthening Anti-Romeo Squads. Furthermore, women-led milk cooperatives are being expanded to districts like Prayagraj and Lucknow following successful pilots in Gorakhpur and Bareilly.