The Delhi Government on Friday came out with all the financial aid given to all the Union Territories (UTs) by the Central Financial Commission. In its report, the Delhi Government alleged that national Capital has faced “discriminatory and unfair treatment” in the matter of allocation of its fair share of proceeds of taxes collected by the Union Government. Citing the example of neighbouring States, the Delhi Government said fund allocation made to Assam, Goa, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh is higher than Delhi.
The Government’s remark came after it was accused of not providing sufficient funds for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled three municipal corporations for not providing adequate financial assistance to sanitation workers.
The spokesperson of Delhi Government said it is unfortunate that discriminatory and unfair treatment has been meted out to the Delhi Government and residents of Delhi in the matter of allocation of its fair share of proceeds of taxes collected by the Union Government as also owing to the non-allocation of the Grants in Aid (GIA) to local bodies which belies the purpose and intendment behind the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India which was to strengthen Local Bodies.
Sharing the financial aid data, the government mentioned it got financial aid of Rs 814.99, 753.64 and 891.07 in financial year 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively which is almost half of the assistance given to other states.
Delhi government also alleged that despite having Legislative Assembly, the capital receiving half financial aid from Central government in comparison to other UTs.
“It is an extremely serious matter that despite Delhi government having released Rs 770 crore to East MCD alone in less than six months of the current financial year, sanitation workers are on strike for non-payment of salaries,” an official said.
Delhi Government official also said that the current practice and manner of sharing of resources that is followed by the Government of India unfairly deprives Delhi government of its rightful share from the divisible pool of Central Taxes, which significantly affects the developmental budget of the Delhi government and its ability to cater to and provide for the needs and aspirations of its ever growing population.
Government official also highlighted that Delhi’s contribution to the pool of the Union’s tax collection, the allocation made to it by the Union — under Article 275(1) has been frozen for almost two decades.
As per the database Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) with Delhi government, in financial year 2016-17, the Government’s contribution to the pool of Union’s tax collection is Rs 108882.50 crore against Rs 101664.01 crore in 2015-16. The Government also said in order to provide needs of exponentially increasing population, in Delhi, the government has been allocating and spending substantial sums of money on improving civic infrastructure, improving the standards of healthcare, education, safety and security of its residents.