UP hikes social welfare budget, CM mass marriage scheme payout

Lucknow: The UP govt made an allotment of Rs14,953 crore for social welfare schemes, a rise of 8% over the 2025-26 Budget allocation. A large part of this increase can be attributed to the doubling of the allocation under the CM mass marriage scheme.From the coming financial year, the govt will issue Rs1.01 lakh per couple. This is an increase of Rs1,000 per couple over the previous increment made in May 2025. An official in the department of social welfare said that, in the previous Budget, the allocation was made according to Rs51,000 per couple. "In May that year, the amount was hiked to Rs1 lakh, for which we sought additional funds in the supplementary budget. This included a direct transfer of Rs60,000 into the account of the bride, Rs25,000 for the purchase of wedding goods, and Rs15,000 for arrangements," he said.
He said the additional Rs1,000 will be adjusted under one of the three heads and will be issued after a new notification by the department. The Budget allocated Rs750 crore for this scheme.The Budget also set aside Rs8,950 crore for the payment of old age pension and farmers' pension. Currently, 67.5 lakh pensioners are paid Rs1,000 per month under these two schemes.In addition, Rs100 crore was allocated for a scheme to fund marriages of poor girls from SC families, and another Rs50 crore for the marriage of poor girls from the general category.There is an additional allocation of Rs950 crore for the scholarship of students from the general category.