Lucknow, Oct. 12 -- With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching, the Yogi Adityanath government is stepping up its welfare push, with measures targeting farmers, pensioners, women and rural workers.
The government plans to raise the monthly honorarium of nearly 60,000 village watchmen from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500, while preparing to increase social security pensions from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 a month. Small and marginal farmers are also set to get agricultural loans at a subsidised interest rate of 6 per cent, down from 11 per cent.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to announce the honorarium hike at a programme in Bareilly on October 13. The 40 per cent increase would give each village watchman an additional Rs 12,000 annually.
The workers, who relay information about suspicious activities and law and order issues to the police, have been demanding higher remuneration and recently staged protests in Lucknow.
The proposed pension increase could benefit more than 1.21 crore people, including over 67 lakh elderly citizens, 42 lakh destitute women and 12 lakh persons with disabilities.
The proposal is expected to go before the state Cabinet in November.
Farmers affected by floods, excessive rainfall and other natural disasters are another focus.
The govt is set to release agricultural input assistance to 9.18 lakh farmers through direct benefit transfer. The Relief Commissioner's office said Rs 169 crore had already been released to districts as an advance, while around 1.29 lakh farmers had received Rs 78.75 crore in crop-loss assistance.
Under the Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana, eligible farmers will be able to borrow at 6 per cent interest through the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Village Development Bank's 323 branches.
The govt has also ordered the release of Rs 38 crore to the bank towards the interest subsidy.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.