Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the union government of not releasing funds of the centrally-aided projects and schemes in time, thus slackening the development process in the state. Interacting with reporters after presenting the budget for the financial year 2013-2014, Akhilesh Yadav said the union government was delaying funds not only for Uttar Pradesh but for several other states too.

He cited the case of the irrigation sector in which the union government had committed itself to give Rs. 1,700 crore but had only released Rs. 45 crores. Similarly, he claimed that funds had not been completely released for the rural job guarantee scheme.

Responding to charges leveled by the opposition that 45% of the last budget outlay was yet to be spent, the chief minister said this time he would physically verify for himself that schemes are on time and that the money allocated for them is properly utilised.

He also said that after the last budget, his government has only got some seven to eight months to work and hence there were some problems. "In this year's budget, special focus has been given to social sector and poverty alleviation schemes," he added.