In Pics: UP budget heritage plan skips Taj Mahal
Yogi Adityanath’s government released its first budget on Tuesday with many of they state’s cultural and heritage sites including the Taj Mahal finding no mention.
lucknow Updated: Jul 12, 2017 14:58 ISTLucknow

Finance minister Rajesh Agarwal who presented the budget for 2017-2018, invoked Lord Ram, said that the budget aims to connect the youth with places of cultural and historical importance.
“Our state has been a carrier of ancient cultural heritage. But our younger generation is gradually distancing itself from the places of cultural and historical importance. Our government has formulated schemes for maintenance of places of cultural and historical importance to promote tourism,” said Agarwal.

The budget marks launch of ‘Swadesh Darshan Yojana’ with an allocation of Rs 1,240 crore focusing on the Ramayana Circuit, the Buddhist Circuit and the Krishna Circuit.

No mention has been made of Taj Mahal or Fatehpur Sikri in the special section ‘Hamari Sanskritik Virasat’ (Our Cultural Heritage) incorporated in the finance minister’s 63-page budget speech.


A commitment has been made to hold ‘Lok Malhar’ and ‘Savan Jhula’ programmes in Gorakhpur and Ayodhya. Special places for rendering ‘bhajans’ (religious songs) will be constructed in Ayodhya and Chitrakoot.

Also missing from the budget are spheres of environmental conservation such as the Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary, Katarniaghat, Dudhwa and the Uttar Pradesh section of the Chambal sanctuaries. These sites are host to several rare species of plant and animal life.

The Samajwadi Party was quick to react calling the ‘budget bhashan’ (budget speech) a ‘bhajan bhashan’ (budget speech is like singing of religious songs) with the SP national spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari saying the state would not be able to achieve even 5% growth rate with Yogi government’s budget.