Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal puts forward a plea requesting PM Narendra Modi to pass the city’s government budget on Tuesday which was held by the Central government.
The 2024-24 Delhi budgethttps://tdznkwjt9mxt6p1p8657.cleaver.live/kejriwal-writes-to-pm-modi-please-do-not-halt-delhi-budget/ had to be presented by the finance minister, Kailash Gehlot on Tuesday. However, Arvind Kejriwal said that it had been stopped by the central government.
Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal wrote to PM Modi requesting him not to stop the city’s budget for the year 2024-24https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/pls-don-t-stop-delhi-budget-kejriwal-writes-to-pmmodi-101679375942485.html. The request came the next day after Kejriwal alleged the Union government stopped the state’s budget which had to be presented in the Assembly.
It has been for the first time in the past 75 years that a state’s budget has been held. Arvind Kejriwal further said to PM Modi in his letter “Why are you upset with the people of Delhi”?
Kejriwal blames the home ministry for stopping the government’s budget. A clip was shared by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on their Twitter account where we can see Arvind Kejriwal claiming that the center was resorting to “hooliganism”. The clip came out after CM Arvind Kejriwal’s interview on Monday.
In an interview, CM said, “It has been the first time in Indian history that the Delhi budget which was to come out tomorrow morning had been put on hold by the central government”. He further added, “The employees of Delhi government, teachers, doctors will not get their salary. This is a clear-cut hooliganism that can be seen”.
In contrast to this, the union home ministry has alleged the Delhi government to reply to certain concerns which were raised by L-G VK Saxena regarding certain allocations.
The budget proposal had high allocations for advertisement and low funding for infrastructure. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi raised certain administrative concerns about the proposed Budget, keeping in mind the fiscal interests of the National Capital Territory, and the MHA, in a letter dated 17.03.2023, requested that the GNCTD resubmit the Budget addressing these concerns before taking further action. GNCTD’s response has been awaited for four days. The GNCTD should respond immediately for the benefit of the people of Delhi.”
However, Delhi’s finance minister claimed all these charges by the home ministry to be a “lie”. “The total budget size was Rs 78,800 crore, of which 22,000 crore was earmarked for infrastructure expenditure and only Rs 550 crore for advertisements,” he explained.
He further added that the MHA had made some reservations about the Delhi government’s budget and had shown refusal of the approval in a letter sent to the Chief Secretary on March 17. “For unknown reasons, the Chief Secretary of Delhi kept the letter hidden for three days,” he continued.
He found out about the letter at 2 p.m. today. The file that contained the MHA’s letter was officially made available to him at 6 p.m. a day before the budget was to be presented in the Delhi Assembly. As a result, they responded to MHA’s concerns and returned the file to Delhi’s LG at 9 p.m. today, after CM had approved it. There should be an investigation into the role the Delhi’s Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary in delaying the city’s budget, he said.
According to the sources of LG’s office, Saxena indicated that “the expenditure on capital components is only Rs 21,816 crore in comparison to the proposed budget size of Rs 78,800 crore, This includes Rs 5,586.92 crore in loan repayment, which, if excluded, reduces the Capital component to Rs 16,230 crore of the budget.”
“Since Delhi is the capital, the allocation for capital projects does not appear to be sufficient,” the LG said.
“It should be noted as opposed to the Budget Estimate of Rs 511.64 crore, the Directorate of Information and Publicity expenditure for 2022-23 is Rs 272.21 crore, However, the budget estimate for 2024-24 is Rs. 557.24 crore, which appears to be unjustifiable “He continued.
He claimed that the carious central schemes are yet not fully utilized by Delhi. “For instance, Delhi is yet to adopt the flagship scheme of Ayushman Bharat’ as a result of which CSS funds in the health sector are not available.
However, there is no update as of now on when the budget will appear in the assembly.
