The Union Territory of Delhi was allocated Rs 1,168 crore in the interim budget for 2024-25 on Thursday, the same as in 2023-24, with the AAP government accusing the BJP-led Centre of meting out “step-motherly” treatment to the national capital.
The transfer to Delhi from the Union home ministry included Rs 1,168 crore under the revenue head and Rs 0.01 crore under the capital head.
In the 2022-23 budget, Delhi was allocated Rs 960 crore. The amount was increased to Rs 1,168.01 crore in 2023-24 and it remains the same for 2024-25. There were no grants in lieu of its share in central taxes and duties for Delhi. It was Rs 325 crore in the 2022-23 budget.
The grants in return of Delhi’s share in the pool of central taxes and duties were clubbed under the “central assistance to Union Territories” in the budget estimates of 2023-24 and have remained so in the interim budget for 2024-25. The allocation under central assistance to Delhi in the 2024-25 budget estimates was Rs 951 crore like the previous budget for 2023-24. It is provided for financing the schemes of the Delhi government.
Delhi’s Finance Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi alleged that the budget has once again proved that the BJP is leading a government of hollow promises. She also said “step-motherly” treatment has been meted out to the national capital. “If Delhi were to get its rightful share of the central taxes, which Delhiites pay in the form of income tax, then the city should have received Rs 15,000 crore from the Centre. But only Rs 1,000 crore have been allocated. Like every time, we have been given step-motherly treatment. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has not been given a single penny,” she told PTI-Video.
“The government has provided a central assistance of Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 16,000 crore to urban local bodies but no allocation has been made for the MCD. They do not have money for the Delhi government or the MCD,” Atishi said. On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement that the Centre has decided to enhance the target for creating “Lakhpati Didis” from two crore to three crore, the AAP leader said at a time when “women are worried about atta, dal and buying LPG cylinders, this is a huge joke that they will be made lakhpatis”.
“Where are the jobs and business opportunities for women?” she asked. The “Lakhpati Didi” scheme is aimed at training women in self-help groups (SHGs) so that they can earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh per annum.
Slamming the Centre, Atishi said, “I want to ask the Centre and the BJP to stop jumlebazi (gimmickry). The entire country has seen how, in the last 10 years, you have done nothing to curb price rise, unemployment and bring about economic growth.” “This budget has once again proved that the (Narendra) Modi government is actually a jumlewali government (a government of hollow promises). There is no relief in the price of LPG cylinders and income tax slabs. There is nothing for job creation. There is no relief from the GST on food items like atta and pulses,” she added. The AAP leader welcomed the hike in the defence budget to Rs 6.21 lakh crore for 2024-25 from last year’s Rs 5.94 lakh crore.
She said the armed forces should get the best of facilities but stressed that the allocated funds should reach them. “We have seen how a jawan raised questions over the quality of food served to them. The food quality did not improve but the jawan lost his job. We hope that the bravehearts who guard our borders get those funds in reality,” she added.
In the interim budget for Delhi, an amount of Rs 2 crore was also allocated as enhanced compensation to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The allocation towards the Union Territory Disaster Response Fund is Rs 15 crore and an additional central assistance of Rs 200 crore for externally-aided projects (the Chandrawal water treatment plant) is also there like the previous year’s budget.
“They talk about Viksit Bharat but they have not increased the allocation for health and education. Education and healthcare as a share of the total budget is merely 2.51 per cent and 1.98 per cent respectively. It has been four years since the NEP (National Education Policy) was announced with the ambitious target of ensuring that 6 per cent of the GDP was allocated to education, but little progress so far,” Atishi said. Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely termed the interim budget “disappointing”, saying it has ignored issues, such as inflation and unemployment.
“It was disappointing that the budget before the Lok Sabha election has neglected employment generation, small and medium industrialists and traders, factory owners, women, youngsters, labourers and farmers. They do not figure in the government’s scheme of things,” he said. Lovely claimed that the finance ministry has announced less allocations for education, agriculture, health and public welfare.
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