BJP govt. to present its first Delhi budget from March 24

Govt. to hold consultations with women’s organisations, trade and industry bodies and various sections of the society and incorporate their insights into policies to ensure a people’s budget: CM

The newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Delhi will present its first annual budget between March 24 and 26, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Monday.

“This budget will focus on women’s economic empowerment, expansion of healthcare services, strengthening public transport, pollution control, job creation, improving education, providing affordable and nutritious food for the underprivileged, senior citizen welfare, and cleaning of the Yamuna river. Delhi’s ‘Viksit Budget’ will include both short-term and long-term policies to address these areas comprehensively,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a press conference.

Pre-budget consultations

Ms. Gupta said to ensure that the budget reflects the needs of women in Delhi, a consultation with various women’s organisations will be held on Wednesday. The government will incorporate their insights into policies aimed at enhancing women’s welfare and economic opportunities. Consultation will also be done with academic professionals and teachers, she added.

“Following this, a meeting with Delhi’s trade and industry bodies and others will be conducted on Thursday to gather their inputs and prepare the work for improving Delhi. Also, MLAs and Cabinet Ministers have been directed to consult with farmers, slum dwellers, young people, and working people before incorporating their recommendations into the budget,” she said.

The Chief Minister said the Ministers will meet people from different sectors of society and take their views to ensure that Delhi’s budget will be a people’s budget. She added that the government is committed to fulfill all the promises in the BJP’s manifesto.

She also unveiled a WhatsApp number (9999962025) and an e-mail address (viksitdelhibudget-25@delhi.gov.in) where people can send their inputs for the budget.

‘Finances in shambles’

Later, while speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Ms. Gupta said that the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, would be implemented in the next Assembly session, replacing the outdated Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act.

Ms. Gupta said the previous AAP government had left Delhi’s finances in shambles, but the BJP government will fulfil all its promises.

Last week, during the ongoing first session of the newly constituted Delhi Assembly, the BJP had tabled two CAG reports. The first report stated that “poor implementation of the now-scraped excise policy led to a loss of over ₹2,000 crore to the exchequer”. The second report claimed that the “Delhi government used less than 75% of the funds released by the Centre to tackle COVID-19 pandemic among other issues”.

Speaker Vijendra Gupta had sent the CAG report to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for examination and directed the Health Department of the Delhi government to submit an action-taken report within a month.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Atishi accused the BJP of hurling abuses at AAP and party chief Arvind Kejriwal instead of working for the people.

“I am happy that the BJP is finally talking about the CAG report. In the last 15 to 20 years, I have never seen them show such faith in the CAG’s findings. When the CAG report in Uttarakhand found irregularities in the Forest Department’s spending on iPhones, BJP said that there shouldn’t be discussion on it. Similarly, when the CAG report on the Dwarka Expressway revealed that a road approved at ₹19 crore per km was built at ₹250 crore per km, BJP said that there shouldn’t be discussion on it. But now, at least because of us, they are discussing it,” she said.

AAP continued to target the BJP for not implementing the promise of ₹ 2,500 per month to women as promised by the BJP in the run up to the election.

Published - March 04, 2025 01:13 am IST