NEW DELHI: After the Union Budget 2021 was presented in the Parliament on Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed disappointment stating people had high expectations from the Union Budget during COVID but there is nothing for them and no measures have been taken to reduce the inflation.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that the national capital's share in the central taxes continues to be frozen for past 21 years to Rs 325 crore, even when the city government had demanded it be raised.
"Giving Delhi only Rs 325 crore out of the budget of Rs 8.16 lakh crores allocated for the share of all states in central taxes shows the negative attitude of the central government towards the people of Delhi," said Sisodia.
Sisodia called the 2022-23 Budget as the most anti-farmer budget in Indian history. "The central government not only reduced allocation for the minimum support price (MSP), but also cut down beneficiaries from 1.97 crore to 1.68 farmers in the budget. The government also failed to double the income of farmers as was promised," Sisodia said.
"Finance Minister stated today that the target for the purchase of paddy and wheat has been reduced from 1286MT to 1208MT. Imagine the blindsidedness of this government that reduced the procurement target of two crucial crops like these. MSP allocation has been reduced from Rs 2.48 lakh crores to Rs 2.37 lakh crores," Sisodia said, adding the government did not provide any relief to the pandemic-hit middle class. He further criticised the budget for no measures taken to boost health infrastructure in the pandemic.
Contrary to expectations that the government would raise the income tax limit, Sisodia said, the government did not provide any relief to the pandemic-hit middle class. "Despite seeing the tragedies of COVID, the Centre did not increase the budget allocation for the health sector. Are the lives of the common men a joke? Middle class feeds India's economy, but the BJP's central government has backstabbed it today. Reducing tax slabs could have increased the purchasing power of the already stressed middle class," said Sisodia.
The Delhi Finance Minister, alleged the budget is against the New Education Policy, which states that the government would increase expenditure on the sector. The overall financial allocation for the education sector for 2022-23 has increased to Rs 1.04 lakh crore from Rs 93,224 crore (budget estimate) in 2021-22.
School education outlay for 2022-23 is at Rs 63,449.37 crore, nearly Rs 9,000 crore more than 2021-22. "They reduced the already abysmal share of education from 2.67 per cent to 2.64 per cent. The Budget for skilling was reduced by a staggering 30 per cent. They talk about the merits of the NEP but continue to defund the education sector," Sisodia added.
The Deputy Chief Minister also talked about receiving not even a single penny for Delhi’s civic bodies even though the government sets aside Rs 69,421 crore for the MCDs in the country.