Delhi Finance Minister Atishi presents Rs 76,000 crore budget with focus on women, education, health and power sector

New Delhi [India], March 4 : Delhi Finance Minister Atishi presented the state budget with total outlays of Rs 76,000 crore for the Financial Year 2024-25 with a focus on the "Ram Rajya" theme and said that the Aam Aadmi Party-led- Delhi government have been trying day and night for nine years to realize this dream of Ram Rajya.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government on Monday in its Budget announced another populist measure to transfer Rs 1000 per month to every woman above 18 years of age under 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana for the financial year 2024-25.
"Today we are introducing a revolutionary programme 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' in which women above 18 years of age will be given 1000 rupees every month," Delhi Finance Minister Atishi said.
Atishi presented the 10th budget of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's government at the Delhi Vidhan Sabha today.
"We all are inspired by Lord Ram. (Reading the verse of Ramcharit Manas) We have been trying day and night for nine years to realize this dream of Ram Rajya. We have tried to provide happiness and prosperity to everyone in the last nine years. There is a lot to be done for a Ram Rajya type of governance but a lot has to be done in the upcoming years. It has been said that everyone was happy and healthy in the reign of Lord Ram. Since coming to the Kejriwal government, we have tried to provide better treatment to everyone free of cost. Today, 81 thousands OPD patients get free treatment every day in our 38 hospitals. Today there are 13,800 beds, we can take care of one and a half times more patients," said Delhi Finance Minister Atishi in the Assembly.
Health sector budget was given a total outlay of Rs. 8,685 crores out of the total layout key components were Rs 6,215 crore proposed for hospitals to maintain good facilities, Rs 212 crores allocated for providing medical treatment through the Mohalla Clinics, Rs 658 crore allocated to ensure an adequate supply of essential medicines in Delhi Government hospitals for this fiscal year and Rs 400 crores for the construction of new hospitals and the expansion of existing hospitals through remodelling.
"We have made arrangements that if the date of more than one month is available in the government hospital, then the operation can be done free of cost in the private hospital. We have arranged for free tests for everyone. The average response time of our ambulance has reduced from 55 minutes to 15 minutes," She added.
To develop better road infrastructure in the villages, in 2024-25, the Delhi Government will lay about 1000 kilometres of roads in more than 360 villages of Delhi. This will give a great boost to the village economy. For the development of the villages of Delhi, a budget of Rs 900 crore is proposed in the financial year 2024-25, according to the Budget.
According to the budget, Rs 3,353 crore has been proposed for the power sector for the year 2024-25. Some of the key components are - in 2023, around 3.41 crores of zero electricity bills were issued to consumers. This subsidy scheme will continue this year also.
"Delhi Solar Policy-2023" proposed, which is currently in the process of gazette notification. As per the Policy, any consumer who uses more than 400 units of electricity, will receive zero bills if they install adequate solar panels.
A budget of Rs 7,195 crores has also been proposed for the Delhi Jal Board in the fiscal year 2024-25.
"A budget of Rs 1,768 crore was allocated for road and flyover projects & Rs 9,800 crore for schemes in the Housing and Urban Development sector in the financial year 2024-25. Some of the key components are-- Rs. 902 crores proposed for the work of expansion of roads and drains in unauthorized colonies of Delhi, Rs 400 crore proposed under the MLALAD ('Strengthening and augmentation of infrastructure') scheme for maintenance of Roads, Streets, Street lights etc. in each assembly constituency, and Rs 275 crores proposed under the 'Mukhya Mantri Sadak Punarnirman Yojana' and 'Mukhya Mantri Street light Yojana'," the budget release stated.
A provision of Rs 902 crores in the budget for the upliftment of unauthorized colonies, according to the Delhi Minister.
"A budget of Rs 2,714 crore has been proposed for these beneficiaries in the budget of 2024-25. Under the Rs. 2000 crore for 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' for the welfare and empowerment of women, every woman above 18 years of age will get an amount of Rs 1000 per month," the minister said.
A Budget outlay of Rs 6,216 crore for various schemes under the Social Welfare Department, Women and Child Development Department and SC/ST/OBC Welfare Department was also presented. Some of the key components are that around 9.03 lakh beneficiaries of financial assistance schemes are receiving pensions ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 every month.
"...In 2014, the GSDP of Delhi was Rs 4.95 lakh crores and in the last ten years, the GSDP of Delhi has increased two and a half times to Rs 11.08 lakh crores. In 2014, the per capita income of Delhi was Rs 2.47 lakhs and today the per capita income of Delhi has reached 4.62 lakhs which is two and a half times more than the national average...Today, I am going to present a budget of Rs 76,000 crores..." Atishi added.
Stating that education has been the priority of the Kejriwal government, the minister noted that 16,396 crore has been added to the outlay for education.
Rs 100 crore was allocated to SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training) out of which Rs 150 crore has been proposed for the construction of new schools and classrooms, Rs 45 crore has been proposed for the maintenance of existing classrooms, Rs. 42 crores has been proposed for Schools of Specialised Excellence (SoSEs) this year, Rs 12 crore has been allocated for Delhi Model Virtual School and Rs 40 crore allocated for School Management Committees.