The chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, presented the budget for the state capital with the central theme “Deshbhakti” or patriotism. Not many new regulations were introduced into the budget, mainly focused on health and education, but Kejriwal referred to it as a surplus budget presented under difficult circumstances.
Here are the key items from the Aam Aadmi Party budget:
1. Due to his aggressive focus on patriotism, the AAP leader and Delhi Treasury Minister Manish Sisodia announced that the government will plant 500 national flags across the city, similar to Connaught Place, with an allocation of 45 rupees. The government will also spend 10 rupees to organize programs on the life and times of leaders such as Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar.
2. The Deshbhakti issue has invaded other areas of government when AAP pledged initiatives such as an armed forces academy in Delhi to prepare children for recruitment and raised Rs 1 crore to families of police and defense personnel who die on duty. The government will also start free yoga camps for the youth. There is also an initiative to start a youth mentoring program for underprivileged students. A corpus of 98 rupees was set aside for such programs.
3. Targeting women of the state, the government is proposing to open 100 Mahila Mohalla clinics in Delhi to specifically target women and provide free gynecological tests.
4. The Kejriwal government has also announced incubation centers for women in this year’s budget. These centers will open in 500 Anganwadi hubs and promote self-help groups.
5. Looking towards 2047, the government has pledged to increase Delhi’s per capita income 16 times to align the state capital with Singapore and promote technology and infrastructure.
6. The AAP government also wants to improve the sports infrastructure in Delhi and has promised to make an offer for the 2048 Olympic Games, which will also be the 100th year of India’s independence.
7. The government has remained true to its track record and made the highest allocation for education and health. An allocation of 69,000 rupees (24 percent) was made for education, while 14 percent was allocated for health.
8. For the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination in India, the budget also mentions free vaccines for all residents of Delhi.
