The Budget speech of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam being telecast in Delhi on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Union Budget found little support from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the city on Wednesday. While Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Budget contained nothing to reduce inflation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused the Centre of тАЬgross injusticeтАЭ for not raising DelhiтАЩs share in the central pool of taxes.
Meanwhile, the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party hailed the Budget as тАЬ sarv hitkari (beneficial to all)тАЭ and тАЬall encompassingтАЭ, with measures for each section of the society.
Mr. Kejriwal tweeted, тАЬThe reduction of the education budget from 2.64% to 2.5% is unfortunate and the reduction of the health budget from 2.2% to 1.98% is dangerous.тАЭ He added that the Budget will rather increase inflation and has no concrete plan to reduce unemployment.
At a press conference, Mr. Sisodia said every State gets a share of 42% from central taxes, but Delhi has received only тВ╣325 crore each year for the last 22 years under the subhead of grant in lieu of taxes, even after contributing over тВ╣1.75 lakh crore in income tax each year.
тАЬDespite repeated requests, DelhiтАЩs allocated share in the central pool of taxes continues to be тВ╣325 crore, even though it contributed тВ╣1.78 lakh crore in direct taxes in FY22,тАЭ he added.
тАЬThe Centre gives only тВ╣611 per person to Delhi from its share of taxes. However, it gives тВ╣64,524 crore to Maharashtra (тВ╣4,963 per person), тВ╣80,183 crore to Madhya Pradesh (тВ╣9,216 per person) and тВ╣37,252 crore to Karnataka (тВ╣5,247 per person),тАЭ Mr. Sisodia said.
In response, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Tiwari called Mr. SisodiaтАЩs claims тАЬfalse and misleadingтАЭ.
тАЬIn the Budget presented today, there is a direct provision of тВ╣1,168 crore for Delhi, while тВ╣2,285 crore has also been given to Delhi Metro,тАЭ he said.
The BJP MP added that since 2015, the Central government has given тВ╣22,800 crore for the development of Delhi and тВ╣26,000 crore for Delhi Metro.
He also alleged that the AAP government needs money from the Centre for advertising the party and not development schemes.
BJP lauds tax relief
Lauding the increase in income tax exemption limit from тВ╣5 lakh to тВ╣7 lakh, Mr. Tiwari said this Budget announcement will benefit the cityтАЩs lower middle class residents.
тАШAnother jumlaтАЩ
The Deputy CM also called the Budget тАЬanother jumla (gimmick) by the CentreтАЭ, which will drown the nation in more debt. тАЬTill 2014, the Central government had a debt of тВ╣53 lakh crore. During two successive terms of the BJP-led Centre, the country came under a debt of тВ╣150 lakh crore. This Budget will drown the country in тВ╣15 lakh crore additional debt,тАЭ he stated.
Mr. Sisodia added that the Budget has been made only to benefit the super-rich and has тАЬnothing to offer to the aam aadmiтАЭ.
With respect to civic bodies, the Deputy CM said the Budget has allocated money for all corporations but not the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
Mr. Sisodia also questioned Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the CentreтАЩs claim of ensuring inclusive growth, as the Budget allocation for education and health has not been increased.
Mirroring Mr. KejriwalтАЩs sentiments, he said, тАЬNo new hospitals have been announced despite the burden on medical facilities. Allocations to both education and health care have been cut from the previous year. It feels like a mockery.тАЭ
тАЬIt has been three years since the Centre presented the National Education Policy, 2020, which recommends that the government spend at least 6% of the Budget on education. Instead, the Centre has reduced the spending on education,тАЭ he added.
