The Arvind Kejriwal Government has been allocated only Rs758 crore in the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2016-17. Of these, Rs325 crore has been allocated under Central Sales Tax assistance while Rs413 crore allocated under normal assistance from Central Government whereas Rs 15 crore has been allocated to give compensation to 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims in the national Capital.
The city has been given Rs5 crore under disaster response fund. As a matter of fact, the Kejriwal Government has demanded Rs5,000 crore annually. In the run-up to the Union Budget, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking a share in Central taxes amounting to Rs25,000 crore over a span of five years.
lambasting the Union Budget, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said there is nothing for Delhi. “The share in Central Taxes of Delhi has not been increased from Rs325 crore which is stagnant since 2001-02. The Delhi Government deserves its legitimate share in Central Taxes to finance various developmental projects. The Delhi Government had requested the Government of India a number of times to enhance the allocation to at least Rs5000 crore as share in Central Taxes as against Rs325 crore being released to Delhi. The Budget of Delhi has increased from Rs 8739 crore in the year 2001-02 to Rs41,129 crore in 2015-16, whereas the share in Central Taxes has remained frozen at Rs325 crore since 2001-02,” Sisodia said.
Sisodia said the Central Government has not earmarked any funds to local Bodies in Delhi although the Delhi Government had requested for allocation of at least Rs1000 crore.
Criticising the Narendra Modi Government, the deputy CM said an amount of mere Rs5 crore as a Non Plan Grant has been proposed as an assistance for Delhi Disaster Response Fund which is negligible.
“It is unfortunate since Delhi falls in high seismic zone and it was hoped that the Central Government will bear this important fact in mind while making allocations under this head, but that eventually did not happen,” the deputy CM said.
On the Normal Central Assistance to Delhi, Sisodia said it was Rs370 crore in 2000-01 and still after 16 years it is proposed only at Rs412.99 crore in the year 2016-17. “However, the plan expenditure of Delhi has increased by six times from Rs3129 crore in 2000-01 to Rs19000 crore in 2015-16,” he said.
On the compensation to 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, the Delhi Government has already paid about Rs76 crore as enhanced compensation to the victims. However, in the Union Budget 2016-17, an amount of Rs10 crore in the current year and Rs15 crore in the next year has been proposed for reimbursement to the Delhi Government.
It is noted that citing the example of Punjab and Haryana, whose central tax share allocation has been doubled for 2015-2020, Kejriwal had reminded Jaitely to end the “step-motherly treatment” of Delhi in terms of share in Central taxes.
“Delhi residents pay Rs1.30,000 crore tax to the Central Government and the city’s share in central tax pool is just Rs325 crore,” Kejriwal said during the AAP Government’s Budget presentation in June last year. In his letter, Kejriwal pointed to the recommendations of the 14th Central Finance Commission report on Delhi that suggest an increased allocation under heads of central tax, Basic Grant and local body performance grant.
Sisodia had sought Rs11,000 crore for Delhi. Also, he wanted the city’s share in Central taxes to increase from Rs325 crore to Rs5,000 crore, apart from Rs4,000 crore for public transport improvement and Rs2,000 crore for the local bodies.