The five-day Budget session of the Delhi Assembly got underway here on Monday with Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal outlining the various achievements of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Addressing legislators, including the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) Opposition, the L-G said the Delhi government was committed to providing basic amenities to people.
Mr. Baijal said 20 school buildings were being constructed and around 8,000 classrooms were being built in existing schools for improving the student-classroom ratio.
More school buildings
“To upgrade the infrastructure for higher education, new campuses for Ambedkar University are coming up at Rohini and Dheerpur. The project will be completed by November 2020,” Mr. Baijal said.
The government also intends to start new ITIs, the L-G said. The phase-II construction of IIT-Delhi is likely to be completed by August 2017, he said.
Mr. Baijal said mohalla clinics had provided a boost to primary healthcare in the Capital and had received acclaim from personalities such as Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
“As many as 1,000 mohalla clinics will be completed in the next six months and 122 polyclinics will be completed by next year. The government also intends to improve public health services through medical education, research and training in cutting-edge technologies,” he said.
Mr. Baijal also underlined the slashing of the power tariff by half and making a certain quantum of water supply free. He added that the 50% subsidy on monthly power consumption of up to 400 units would continue.
The L-G also mentioned the AAP government’s efforts to improve water-related infrastructure. “Peak production of about 900 MGD of potable water has been achieved. To augment water supply in water-deficit areas, tube wells and water ATMs have been installed,” the L-G highlighted.
Minimum wages hiked
Mr. Baijal said the government had increased minimum wages of unskilled workers to ₹13,350 per month, that of semi-skilled workers to ₹14,698 and for those in the skilled category to ₹16,182 per month.
“An amount of ₹1,456 crore has been earmarked for expediting development work in unauthorised colonies,” he added.
However, AAP’s election promises including free Wi-Fi, Aam Aadmi canteens, mohalla sabhas , and procurement of buses and CCTV cameras did not find mention in Mr. Baijal’s 30-minute speech.
The Leader of the Opposition, Vijender Gupta, termed the address “nothing but a summary of recent publicity campaigns” and that it had failed to “present the government’s vision for the future”.
