NEW DELHI: The urban development and housing department has been allocated a budget of Rs 3,914 crore in 2019-20, 33.49 per cent higher than the revised estimate of Rs 2,932 crore in 2018-19. With unauthorized colonies being one of the priorities of the AAP government, Rs 1,600 crore has been set aside for improvement of conditions there.
Under the Mukhya Mantri Sadak Punarnirman Yojna, funds released to the executing agencies for undertaking works as recommended by local MLAs have been proposed at Rs 800 crore.The government had announced enhancing the budget under the MLALAD scheme from Rs 4 crore to Rs 10 crore per annum, which is the highest in any state. The finance minister also announced the imminent launch of a mobile application to track and rescue homeless people.
Water supply
The government has proposed construction of reservoirs on the Yamuna’s floodplains to store floodwater to meet the increasing demand for water in the national capital.It announced an allocation of Rs 2,370 crore in 2019-20 for implementation of schemes and projects of Delhi Jal Board, and Rs 467 crore for a 20 KL free lifeline water subsidy scheme.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also proposed two new schemes—“Rejuvenation of Drains”, with an outlay of Rs 100 crore for improving groundwater levels, and ‘Rejuvenation or preservation and maintenance of water bodies’, with an outlay of Rs 25 crore. The DJB, in a pilot project, has taken up rejuvenation of 159 existing water bodies and creation of five new water bodies. To augment water supply in Delhi, a new 50 MGD water treatment plant is proposed to be constructed at Dwarka. Another WTP at Wazirabad, with a capacity of 120 MGD, is being constructed.
Social welfare
The social welfare department, which is one of the largest departments in terms of its beneficiaries, has been allocated Rs 3,429 for various social security programmes. According to the government, in February 2015, when the Aam Aadmi Party came to power, there were around 4.83 lakh beneficiaries receiving financial assistance worth around Rs 837 crore from the government. This year the amount is Rs 2,214 crore.
Six new juvenile justice boards for speedy disposal of cases against children have been set up in the national capital. In some good news for students with disabilities, from next year they will get a discount on the price of scooters and motorized tricycles. An amount of Rs 40 crore has been proposed in the budget for the Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Yojna, under which coaching is provided to Schedule Caste students passing out of class 10 and class 12 in government schools.