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NEW DELHI — The Delhi government on Monday presented a INR 76,000-crore budget for FY25, which it claimed to be inspired by the vision of 'Ram Rajya', and announced a monthly payment of INR 1,000 to all women under a scheme that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the world's biggest step towards women empowerment.
Presenting the 2024-25 budget in the Delhi Assembly ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, state finance minister Atishi also announced the implementation of Business Blasters scheme in universities and industrial training institutes (ITIs). The scheme is already being implemented in government schools.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said that the budget takes care of every sector, asserting that the AAP government is inspired by the vision of 'Ram Rajya'.
However, the overall budget for the financial year 2024-25 has witnessed a 3.7 per cent reduction compared to INR 78,800 crore allotted in the preceding fiscal.
The allocation for health and education sectors also reduced in the latest budget.
The government allocated INR 16,396 crore for education, slightly down from the previous fiscal's allocation of INR 16,575 crore. Similarly, the health sector's outlay of INR 8,685 crore is less than INR 9,742 earmarked in the previous budget.
"We do not get a single penny out of the central pool of taxes. Earlier, we would get INR 325 crore. but even that has stopped now. This is like strangulating the hen that lays golden eggs," Kejriwal said.
While presenting her maiden budget, Atishi announced the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' under which all women aged 18 and above will get INR 1,000 every month. The government has set aside INR 2,000 for the implementation of the scheme.
"The Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana is perhaps the world's biggest programme of women empowerment. It will incur a huge amount. We will implement the scheme after the Lok Sabha polls," Kejriwal told the press conference after the budget announcement.
There are around 67 lakh women voters in Delhi, the chief minister said, adding that the scheme excludes the income tax payers and those who avail benefits of other government schemes. According to him, the scheme will benefit around 45 to 50 lakh women.
While presenting the budget in the assembly, the finance minister said that any woman who is eligible will have to fill a form and give a self-declaration that she is not a part of any government scheme. She is also not a government employee and is not an income tax payer.
"On the basis of self-declaration, those women will start getting the benefits of this scheme. Along with the form, every woman will have to provide her Aadhaar card and bank account information. For the financial year 2024-25, I propose INR 2,000 crore for 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana'," Atishi said.
The government allocated INR 8,423 crore for the civic bodies, which is more than INR 8,241 crore budgeted in 2023-24.
An allocation of INR 16,396 crore has been made for the education sector. Atishi said the priority of the state government is to focus on providing quality education to the residents of the city.
The minister highlighted that the government schools under the Kejriwal-led state government have transformed significantly.
About the city's healthcare system, she said in the last nine years under the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation, the healthcare has moved from a state of 'majboori se majbooti' (helplessness to strength) and 'nirasha se vishwas' (despair to faith).
She said the second principle of Ram Rajya is curing every ailing person.
To ensure the right to water and sewerage facilities for every household in Delhi, a total of INR 7,195 crore has been allocated for the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The finance minister also announced an allocation of INR 902 crore for unauthorised colonies.
Talking about the transport sector, she said that Delhi will have over 10,000 buses in its fleet, including 80 per cent electric buses.
She announced INR 510 crore for induction of electric buses in DTC and cluster buses fleet and INR 500 crore for Delhi Metro.
Atishi said that after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in Delhi, a total of 9,34,000 homes have received water supply for the first time.
The AAP government allocated INR 664 crore for all nutrition-related schemes in its annual budget, Atishi said, adding that in "Ram Rajya", no one sleeps hungry.
During her budget speech, the finance minister said that the government has provided an ex-gratia of INR 1 crore to families of 35 martyrs in the last nine years.
It has also provided financial assistance to families of 92 Covid warriors during the pandemic.