Akhilesh wins the BIG jackpot that eluded Mayawati

The presidential election has really come as a boon to the four-month-old Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh, which received a largesse of nearly Rs 80,000 crore from the Centre on Wednesday.

The announcement came at the end of a day-long meeting between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Planning Commission Chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi.

The meeting drew significance from the fact that this was the first time in five years that the UP chief minister was participating in a meeting of the Planning Commission.

It was an irony of fate that  the figure coincides with what Akhilesh's predecessor and former chief minister Mayawati kept on demanding from the Centre through her umpteen letters during her five-year rule between 2007 and March 2012.

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Besides the fact that unlike the former chief minister, Akhilesh proved to be more forthcoming and was always ready to reach out to anybody and everybody at the Centre, UPA's need for Samajwadi Party's support at the crucial Presidential poll made things easier for UP.  

The Planning Commission not only gave its nod to an annual plan of Rs 57,800 crore for the financial year 2012-13, which marked a highest increase of 23 per cent over the previous year's allocation, but also sanctioned an additional grant of Rs 20,000 crore for centrally-sponsored schemes.  

Significantly, the package includes a special one-time grant of Rs 800 crore for the forthcoming Kumbh Mela and an additional central allocation of Rs 9,200 crore.

Projecting a high growth rate of 10 per cent, Akhilesh sought to impress the Centre with his home work, which envisaged an investment of Rs 16 lakh crore during the 12th plan period.

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"We are confident of creating job opportunities for at least 8.3 million people during the period," the UP chief minister was stated to have told Ahluwalia.

Expressed praise for the UP chief minister for what he termed as 'restoration of economic activity in the state', the Planning Commission chief was stated to have declared, "UP's overall performance would also impact the outcome of the nation's 12th five year plan."

He also appreciated the efforts made by the country's most populous state towards bringing in necessary reforms like revision of power tariff.

However, he expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health services which also led to a high rate of infant mortality.

Singh also hailed Akhilesh's move to allocate as much as Rs 1.25 lakh crore towards development of energy, irrigation and the road sectors, which included a firm plan to connect all district headquarters with a 4-lane highway.

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