SP accuses govt of poor budgetary utilisation, stalled projects

Lucknow: The leader of the opposition in the Assembly, Mata Prasad Pandey, on Friday accused UP govt of poor budgetary utilisation, stalled projects, and inadequate focus on health and education. "You bring a large budget, but the development resolve appears weak. Projects remain on paper," he said.
On Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), he pointed out that while Karnataka was behind Uttar Pradesh, states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were ahead, placing UP in the third spot.Compared the present budget with that of SP govt, Pandey said with a budget of ₹3 lakh crore, several major projects were completed. They included Ekana cricket stadium, launch of Lucknow Metro, development of UP Police headquarters, Lok Bhavan and court buildings."Today, despite a much larger budget, name 1 major project apart from expressways," he challenged.Pandey questioned why previously approved funds were not fully utilised. He asked whether the shortfall was due to a lack of money in the consolidated fund or faulty financial assessment.Referring to the 2026–27 budget, he said has govt set a target of 47.89% higher revenue receipts and questioned how it plans to achieve it. "Will you impose new taxes or adopt some other method?" he asked.Pandey stressed that health and education required urgent attention, as both have become increasingly expensive for common citizens.He alleged that primary and community health centres, and district hospitals lack adequate medicine supplies and infrastructure. He opposed outsourcing and contractual hiring in hospitals, calling it a matter of life and death.He credited the SP govt for launching Dial 102 and Dial 108 ambulance services, and Dial 100 emergency police services. Highlighting manpower shortages, Pandey said the state currently had only 0.37 doctors per 1,000 population, against the standard of 1 doctor per 1,000. He also flagged a 46% shortage of nurses and lab technicians, and a severe lack of gynaecologists and paediatricians in rural areas.He noted that eastern Uttar Pradesh faces a higher burden of complex diseases due to water-related issues and required special focus.In the education sector, Pandey said there was a severe shortage of teachers, particularly in rural schools. He called for legislation to regulate arbitrary fee hikes by private schools, alleging that education was turned into a business. Pandey also questioned why the quality of institutions in various universities, including Allahabad University, declined.On law and order, Pandey said the tehsil and district court systems required urgent reforms, as people faced maximum hardship at these levels.Raising environmental concerns, he said nearly 3,000 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage flows into the Ganga daily, with over 1,000 MLD coming from Uttar Pradesh alone. He alleged that in cities like Kanpur, Prayagraj, and Varanasi, several drains still discharge untreated sewage directly into the Ganges.