Newdelhi. 21 March 2023. In Delhi, once again there is a tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party government and the Centre. The Center has put a stay on the Delhi government’s budget for the year 2023-24 to be presented in the assembly on Tuesday. Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs say that the Ministry has sought an explanation from the AAP government and asked why more money has been allocated for advertising in the budget proposal. At the same time, the AAP government has said that the Home Ministry is lying.
According to sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs says that a relatively small amount has been provisioned for infrastructure and other development works in the budget. An explanation has been sought from the Delhi government as to why more is spent on advertisements than on infrastructure. Until the clarification is given by the Delhi government, the approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs has been kept pending.
No hike in advertising budget: AAP government
At the same time, a big claim has been made by the Delhi government. The AAP government said that the Home Ministry is lying. There is a total budget of 78800 crores. In this, 22000 crores will be spent on infrastructure. Only 550 crores will be spent on advertisement. Last year also the budget of advertisement was the same. There is no increase in advertising budget.
On March 17, the Ministry of Home Affairs raised objection
According to sources in the Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) office, the Lieutenant Governor approved the annual financial statement for 2023-2024 with some observations on March 9 and sent the file to the Chief Minister, according to the news agency. After that the Delhi government sent a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs and sought the approval of the President under the rule. On this, the Ministry of Home Affairs conveyed its comments to the Delhi Government on 17 March. At the same time, the LG office is waiting for the file to be sent by the Chief Minister.
Current budget session ending on March 23
At present, it is not yet clear when the budget will be presented in the assembly. The current budget session of the Vidhansabha is going to end on March 23. Earlier on Monday, Finance Minister Kailash Gehlot presented the outcome budget of the Kejriwal government and also presented the report of the Economic Survey 2022-23 in the current budget session of the Delhi Assembly. During the day, the proceedings of the assembly were adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday.
AAP making false allegations: BJP
Here, BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said that the Ministry of Home Affairs and LG had raised some objections. Questions were also raised in this regard, but no answer was received. Now the Aam Aadmi Party is making false allegations.
Delhi government did not send the file: Vijender Gupta
BJP MLA Vijender Gupta tweeted and said- CM Kejriwal claims that the Ministry of Home Affairs has withheld the budget documents. Truth? Delhi government did not send the file to Delhi LG. Here is the fact sheet. The Delhi government is delaying its own budget. The Outcome Budget had already exposed the reality of their hollow claims in health and education.
Chief Secretary hid the letter for three days: Finance Minister
Finance Minister Kailash Gehlot in the Delhi government said- MHA has stopped the Delhi government from presenting its annual budget for 2023-24 on the scheduled date of March 21. It is now learned that the Ministry of Home Affairs had expressed some concern over the budget of the Delhi government and refused to approve it through a letter sent to the Chief Secretary on March 17, 2023. Due to mysterious reasons, the Chief Secretary of Delhi kept the letter hidden for 3 days. I came to know about the letter only today i.e. on March 20 at 2 pm.
‘The role of officers should be investigated’
Kailash Gehlot further said- The file containing the letter of the Ministry of Home Affairs was officially presented to me at 6 pm on Monday i.e. just a day before the presentation of the budget in the Delhi Assembly. After this, we have responded to the concerns of the Ministry of Home Affairs and after the approval of the CM, handed over the file back to the LG of Delhi at 9 pm. The role of Delhi Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary in delaying Delhi budget should be probed.
Budget stopped for the first time in history: Gehlot
He further said- It is also unfortunate that the Home Ministry is spreading lies about the Delhi government’s budget. Around Rs 22,000 crore has been allocated for capital expenditure next year, while the allocation for advertisements is only Rs 550 crore, the same as last year. The concerns raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs are irrelevant and there seems to be an attempt to sabotage the next year’s budget of the Delhi government.
Budget will not be presented on Tuesday: Delhi government
The Kejriwal government said that the budget of the Delhi government will not be presented tomorrow, the budget session of the Delhi Assembly is going on from March 17. According to the fixed date, the budget was to be presented on March 21. On March 20, Finance Minister Kailash Gehlot tabled the Economic Survey and Outcome Budget. lake
