Delhi Budget: Kejriwal says govt to take development to every home; updates

The Aam Admi Party government in Delhi, on Thursday, announced a Rs 530-billion budget for 2018-19 with major emphasis on environment, health and education sectors. Presenting the budget, finance minister Manish Sisodia made a slew of announcements including 'health insurance for all' scheme and several 'green' initiatives. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal hailed the budget saying that it takes care of all sections of society. "In the budget, government had taken care of all sections of society. There is a lot for poor people, women, middle class and students. It is a first of its kind Green Budget in the country. Besides education and health, we have focused on roads, sewer and water. We have also stressed on investment in these three areas," Kejriwal said. Here are the latest highlights of the budget: 1) Kejriwal hails budget: Lauding the budget proposals presented by his deputy, Manish Sisodia, Kejriwal said and asserted that the budget tabled in the Assembly today aims at benefitting all sections of the society, including the middle-class, the poor, women and students. Addressing a press conference after the presentation of budget, he said this is the first "green budget", under which 26 specific actionable points have been mentioned to reduce pollution levels in the national capital, and the government has also fixed a time-line for every project the progress of which will be reviewed by the chief secretary every week. 2) 140 billion for education sector: Delhi government's 2018-2019 budget laid major emphasis on the education sector.

The government allocated Rs 139.99 billion, which is 26 per cent of the total budget, for the sector. In the budget for the financial year 2017-2018, 23.5 per cent of the total budget amount was allocated for the education sector. Under the budget, funds have been dedicated for installation of CCTV cameras in school buildings, self-defence training for girl students, promotion of sports in schools and setting up of a world-class skill centre. Presenting the budget, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Rs 1.75 billion will be allocated for installation of CCTV cameras in school buildings. A total of 1,20,000 cameras will be installed. "The government has allocated Rs 10 crore (100 million) for self-defence training of girl students in Delhi and Rs 20 crore (200 million) has been allocated for promotion of sports in schools," he said, and also announced allocation of Rs 315 crore for setting up a world-class skill centre in the national capital to train the youth in getting jobs. 3) 12.7 per cent allocation for health: The government allocated Rs 67.29 billion for the health sector in its 2018-19 budget, which is 12.7 per cent of the total. The allocation is up from 12 per cent in 2017-18. Rs 4.03 billion had been allocated for Mohalla Clinics and Polyclinics. Also, mobile van clinics were to be established with Rs 150 million, Sisodia said. ALSO READ: AAP govt presents Rs 530-bn 'green' budget for FY19 in Delhi Assembly 4) 'Green' budget: Sisodia termed the 2018-19 budget as the first 'Green budget' saying that the budget aimed at effective containment of pollution in the city. "We are going to thread 26 programmes and schemes of Transport, Power, Environment and PWD departments for devising a unified system of pollution control to bring down levels of different pollutants," he said. Sisodia announced 50 per cent concession in registration of CNG cars, and said solar panels will be installed over 16 km cycle track. As many as 1,000 indoor display boards will be installed in government buildings to display information on air pollution levels. There will also be subsidy for restaurants to encourage them to move from using coal to electricity or gas-based tandoors. 5) Rs 2.57 billion for information and publicity: The Delhi government has set aside Rs 2.57 billion for information and publicity in the budget. The amount is 29 per cent higher compared to the previous budget. Last year, the allocation under the head was around Rs 1.98 billion, which was later revised to around Rs 1.96 billion. 6) Free WiFi: Rs 1 billion has been earmarked for free WiFi access across the city, a project that was pilot launched in 2016 but failed to take off. The government revised its deadline for creating free WiFI hotspots last year and the first phase of the project was to be launched by March this year. ALSO READ: Delhi Budget FY19: AAP govt allocates nearly Rs 140 bn for education sector 7) Rs 15 billion for unauthorised colonies: Sisodia also announced Rs 15 billion allocation for infrastructure development of unauthorised colonies in the city. 8) The government promised implementation of doorstep delivery of government services by June 15. 9) Health insurance: Sisodia said the government will be launching a 'health insurance for all' scheme. A sum of Rs 1 billion has been allocated for the scheme.