The Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi has presented its first digital financial year 2021-22 budget. The Delhi government has set an ambitious target of increasing the per capita income of Delhiites equivalent to people of Singapore by 2047.
Out of the budget of about Rs 69,000 crore, the Delhi government has allocated Rs 16,377 crore on education, Rs 9,934 crore on healthcare, Rs 9,394 crore on infrastructure, Rs 5,328 crore on slum dwellers, and Rs 1,550 crore for unauthorised colonies.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the Delhi government will make the government hospitals in Delhi free and a budget of Rs 50 crore has been proposed for this. Every citizen of Delhi will be given a health card. In this, complete data about the patient will be online so that he will not have to search for the doctor’s slip, report, etc. The budget for health has been set at Rs 9,934 crore. He informed that special mohalla clinics will be opened for women in Delhi from next year. The benefit of this will be given to women belonging to middle-and-low income groups who will be able to get free treatment for women’s diseases and a Sainik School will be opened in Delhi and the Delhi Armed Forces Preparatory Academy will be prepared in which children will be able to prepare to go to service of the military forces.
Sisodia also said that the Delhi government will open the country›s first teachers’ university, where the best teachers will be prepared for the country and the world. The government will create a new education board, set up the world›s first “virtual Delhi model” school with the opening of 100 schools of excellence.
The Delhi government has set a target to host the 39th Olympic Games in the year 2048 to mark the hundredth anniversary of Independence. The goal would be to produce an international medal winner in at least 10 sports fields.
While CM Kejriwal is “very excited” about the budget, the BJP and Congress have targeted the AAP government regarding the same. BJP state president Adesh Gupta told The Sunday Guardian that following Kejriwal’s budget this time, the people of Delhi now understand that the Kejriwal government does not use the budget for development of Delhi, but only on free schemes to suit its electoral arithmetic, the result of which is that development in Delhi has come to a standstill.
Congress state president Anil Chaudhary told The Sunday Guardian that the Delhi government’s paperless-patriotic budget was “directionless” and “visionless”. The Kejriwal government is insensitive to women and minorities, the proposal amount was reduced by 42 percent in the budget, he said. The Congress demanded that the Kejriwal government should provide unemployment allowance to the unemployed and a relief package to small medium traders to help them overcome the economic crisis.