Rekha Gupta Presents BJP’s 1st Delhi Budget In 28 Years, Focus Is On…

Here are the top 10 points in this big story:

1. “This is not an ordinary budget… it is the first step to develop Delhi, which was ruined over the past 10 years (when the AAP was in power). Delhi went down in every aspect of development… previous governments ruined the economic health of the city like termites,” she said.
2. The Rs 1 lakh crore, she said, was 31.5 per cent more than the AAP’s budget last year, and included Rs 28,000 crore for capital expenditure, Rs 5,100 crore to fund the promised Rs 2,500 per month cash aid for eligible women, and Rs 40 crore for “modern gaushalas (cow shelters)”.
3. Accompanied to chants of “Modi, Modi” – and to ‘sheeshmahal’ jabs at predecessor Arvind Kejriwal – the 138-minute speech included a ‘common pass’ for women on public buses. Plans to set up 50,000 CCTV cameras across Delhi – to ensure women’s safety – were also announced.
4. There is also a provision of Rs 1,250 crore towards cleaning up Yamuna river water. This will include Rs 500 crore for a decentralised network of 40 sewage treatment plants, Rs 500 crore to repair and upgrade them, and Rs 250 crore to change old sewer lines. And, in addition, Rs 9,000 crore has been set aside for filtration-related projects (to produce potable water) and sanitation.
5. Plans for CM-SHRI schools – on the lines of the PM-SHRI, or Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India, institutions – were announced. These, Ms Gupta said, will be aligned with the new National Education Policy, over which there is a ‘Hindi imposition’ controversy in Tamil Nadu.
6. As part of the overhaul of the education department, 1,200 students, she said, will receive laptops from the Delhi government. It is unclear what selection criteria will be used or if there will be other benefits for other students, but a sum of Rs 750 crore has been earmarked for this.
7. Among other major plans and provisions announced, Rs 6,874 crore was set aside to improve healthcare infrastructure. This includes funds to expand the Ayushman Arogya Mandir initiative – a central measure to deliver preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care, and of which the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, or PM-JAY, is also a component.
8. “Soon people will get the benefit of Ayushman Yojana and Ayushman Arogya Mandir. In addition to the Rs 5 lakh (cover) from the centre, the Delhi government will give a top-up of Rs 5 lakh…” she said, noting that Rs 2,144 crore had been allocated for this.
9. Her government, Ms Gupta said, had also allocated Rs 696 crore for the development of slum clusters and a further Rs 100 crore to set up 100 Atal Canteens to feed the poor.
10. She also announced Rs 300 crore to combat the city’s annual pollution and air quality crisis. Every winter the air quality in the city plummets – in many cases to well over 500 (and that’s because the scale doesn’t extend beyond an AQI of 500) – as a result of adverse weather conditions and the smoke rising from farm fires in surrounding states, as well as smoke and aerial pollutants from traffic and construction work in Delhi.