The Delhi Government, in the first Outcome Budget tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday, said the daily average ridership of the Delhi Metro was targeted to reach 30 lakh in 2017-18, but it dipped to 25.7 lakh, till December. "The daily ridership of Delhi Metro which was 28 lakhs in 2016-17 and was targeted to reach 30 lakh in 2017-18, actually reduced to 25.7 lakh," according to the Outcome Budget.
Seven new bus depots were constructed against the target of 11 Bus Depot for 2017-18. The bus parking capacity has increased from 6,100 buses to 7,174 buses, stated Delhi Outcome Budget.
The Outcome Budget breaks down the performance of each major scheme and programme of the Delhi government into two kinds of indicators: Output indicators, which tell us what are the services or infrastructure that government departments are required to be provided; and Outcome indicators, which tell exactly how did the people benefit from that scheme, he said.
"Our government has decided that if the purpose of the Outcome Budgeting is to ensure accountability in government expenditure, then we must communicate to the Hon'ble members of this august House, a detailed status of achievements up to December 2017, against Outcome Budget 2017-18, before proposing the next year's budget," Sisodia said.
This was among the major critical indicators enunciated by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia while presenting it in the House during the ongoing session.
However, reacting over it, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said that the outcome budget presentation was a cosmetic but futile exercise to cover up the overall failure of the government. "The data and figures were presented from the angle and gamut chosen by the ruling party. It turned out to be a jugglery presentation without any real substance and depth," he said.
Gupta also questioned the progress made by the government in the fields such as schemes related to construction of building 500 schools, availability of 30,000 additional beds in hospitals, opening up 1000 Aam Aadmi Clinics, providing Wi-Fi in Delhi," he said.
"In December, the Delhi Metro network expanded by 12.94 km with the opening of the Botanical Garden - Kalkaji Mandir section (of the Magenta Line). The average daily ridership of this newly opened section was about 45,000 in January 2018.
The total operational span of the Delhi Metro network will expand to over 350 km after completion of its Phase-III project, which would also enhance the daily average ridership of the mass rapid transit system to nearly 40 lakh, according to the latest economic survey of the city released on March 19.
Currently, after opening of a stretch each on the Magenta and Pink Lines, the operational length of the Delhi Metro stands at 252 km.