Expressing disappointment over the Budget, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that Delhi’s share in Central taxes has remained the same for the past 17 years. “Not a single rupee has been increased for Delhi,” said Mr. Sisodia in an official statement.
‘No funds for local bodies’
Since 2001-02, Delhi’s share in central taxes has remained the same: ₹325 crore. “We had repeatedly requested the Centre to enhance the allocation to at least ₹5,000 crore. The budget of Delhi has increased from ₹8,739 crore in 2001-02 to ₹46,600 crore in 2016-17, but its share in central taxes has remained frozen at ₹325 crore,” Mr. Sisodia said.
The Delhi Finance Minister added that no funds were allocated for the Local Bodies either. “We had requested for allocation of ₹4,087 crore as Local Bodies grant. However, the Local Bodies in Delhi are not getting any support from the Centre, Mr. Sisodia said, adding that there is also no increase in Normal Central Assistance.
Awaiting reimbursement
Mr. Sisodia also said that the Centre was yet to fully reimburse the Delhi government for the enhanced compensation distributed to 1984 riot victims. Till 2016, the Delhi government has disbursed about ₹96 crore as enhanced compensation. “But, in the Budget, an amount of ₹75 crore in the current year and ₹15 crore in the next year has been proposed for reimbursement,” Mr. Sisodia said.
Political funding
The AAP added that the Budget provision reducing cash limit for political funding from ₹20,000 to ₹2,000 would not stop political parties from exploiting the system.
