Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the 2024-25 budget presented in the assembly on Monday is inspired by “Ram Rajya” and appealed to the people to ensure the victory of INDIA bloc candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to strengthen his struggle for the welfare of the people of the city.
He also said the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana’, under which Rs 1,000 per month will be given to adult women based on certain criteria, is probably the “world’s largest women empowerment programme”.
At a press conference after Delhi Finance Minister Atishi presented her maiden Budget in the House, Kejriwal said it is a “very good budget that takes care of every segment of people and sectors”.
“In the field of women empowerment, I think this will be the world’s biggest programme. There is a lot of talk about women’s empowerment. But how will empowerment happen?” he posed. Observing that women who do not earn are especially in a very disadvantaged position in society, the chief minister said under the scheme, Rs 1,000 will be provided each month to every adult woman in Delhi.
“There are around 67 lakh women voters in Delhi. You can exclude the income taxpayer women from it and the women who avail of the benefits of government schemes. I think it (the scheme) will benefit around 45 to 50 lakh women,” he said.
“Every month, Rs 1,000 will go into the accounts of every woman above 18 years of age in Delhi. This is a big thing, and we have been working on it for many years. A lot of money will be spent on this but because now there is a very honest government in Delhi, it saves every penny, Kejriwal said. Any woman applying to avail the benefits of the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana’ should not be a beneficiary of any government pension, should not be in a government job and should not be an income tax payer. It is also made mandatory to give a self-declaration. Later, some cases will be investigated randomly, he said. “The process will start this year after the elections and then we will bring it in the cabinet and pass it,” Kejriwal added.
The chief minister gave “15 out of 10 marks” to Atishi, who presented her maiden budget in the Assembly. “So, when money comes into the hands of women, I think they will go to the market, buy things of their choice and the economy will also progress,” he said. When asked if the scheme would come through, Kejriwal said, “It’s in our blood, we always fight against the mightiest. If there is any obstacle to implementing the scheme, we will fight against it and implement the scheme.” He said the AAP could run the Delhi government successfully because it enjoys a huge majority. “People of Delhiites gave us 62 out of 70 seats once and 67 out of 70 seats once, only then our government could run in Delhi. If you had given 40 out of 70 seats, these people would have overthrown our government,” Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, said.
Alleging that the seven MPs of Delhi always like it when the works of Delhi are obstructed, he appealed to the people to extend their support to all seven candidates of the INDIA bloc. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. “and Punjab and the Rajya Sabha MPs, we will have 25 to 30 MPs with us. Then no one will have the courage to stop the work of Delhi. “I am asking the people of Delhi for this strength, that when you go to cast your vote, think about Delhi to strengthen Kejriwal. If you give me strength, no L-G will have the courage to work against you, he asserted.
The budget outlay for the 2024-25 fiscal is Rs 76,000 crore. However, the overall budget for the financial year 2024-25 has witnessed a 3.7 per cent reduction compared to Rs 78,800 crore allotted in the preceding fiscal. Responding to a query, Kejriwal said the government’s budget has increased constantly. “Our share in Central taxes comes out to be over Rs 7,200 crore but we do not get even a penny.” “Delhi’s people probably are the second highest income taxpayers in the country, after Mumbai. We pay over Rs 2 lakh crore as income tax but we do not get anything. This is injustice and like strangling the hen laying golden eggs,” he said. Atishi said the Delhi government is the only government in the country that runs without taking any loan.
“This year, one thing happened that the GST compensation stopped. Delhi used to get Rs 10,000 crore as GST compensation and the last component of it worth around Rs 2000-3000 crore was obtained last year. It’s a remarkable outcome of revenue growth of Delhi that despite stopping of GST compensation we have been able to raise the revenue over the last year’s level,” she said. The budget estimate was a bit higher last year, the Delhi finance minister said, adding the final (revised) estimate was Rs 74,900 crore which has been enhanced by Rs 1100 crore to estimate the budget 2024-25.
Kejriwal was also asked about the accounts of the announcements made in the last two budgets regarding the Rozgar Budget and Road Infrastructure.
“Atishi’s speech today was divided into two parts. The first part mainly focused on the development and improvement that has taken place in Delhi in the last 10 years since we took over. Regarding the Rozgar Budget, we were able to bring the unemployment rate down substantially in the past two years,” he said.
In response to whether this is the last budget before the next Assembly elections, Atishi said, “As I said, we’re confident and hopeful that we will be presenting the Budget over the next five years as well.” .
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