Deputy CM Sisodia demands funds for MCDs in next Union Budget

Manish Sisodia, who is also Delhi finance minister, on Thursday attended the annual meeting of chief ministers to discuss Union Budget 2022-2023 with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Like funds are allocated for other corporations in the country, the Central government should also provide the municipal corporations of Delhi with requisite funds, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said Thursday during the annual meeting of chief ministers to discuss Union Budget 2022-2023 with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia attended a meeting of chief minister with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss Union Budget 2022-23. (HT Photo)

The three municipal corporations of the Capital, especially the East MCD and North MCD are fund-starved and find it difficult to even give salaries to their employees on time. The fund crunch also takes a toll on their performance, particularly in cleaning the city, Sisodia said.

“Due to the Covid-induced lockdown, the economic system of all states, including Delhi, has been impacted, so the Central government should pursue GST compensation. Also, for the last 21 years, Delhi has been getting only ₹325 crore out of the Central tax, now it is necessary that the Central government increase the amount. Twenty-one years ago from today, Central assistance used to be 5.14% of Delhi’s budget, which has now come down to 0.9 %,” Sisodia said.

He appealed to the Centre to increase Delhi’s Central assistance to ₹2,020 crore in the next budget. “Normal Central assistance to Delhi, which was ₹370 crore in 2000-01, has been raised to only ₹626 crore in 2020-21. However, the expenditure of Delhi has increased more than nine times--from ₹7,200 crore in 2000-01 to ₹69,000 crore in 2021-22. The government of Delhi has incurred expenditure on various Covid-19-related urgent and emergent activities, which are still continuing in view of the prevailing pandemic of Covid-19. Thus, an increase in central assistance is required now,” said Sisodia.

Sisodia said that the Delhi government has written a separate letter to home minister Amit Shah requesting to provide Delhi with Central assistance of ₹1,925 crore. “There are discrepancies in the allocation of funds to Delhi, which should be removed by the Central government. Before 2015, a sub-group of chief ministers was formed, it was decided that the Centre would give full money to Union Territories under a scheme of the Central government. But during implementation, Delhi is not given the 100% amount,” said Sisodia.

Sisodia added that Delhi’s contribution to the country’s GDP is 4.4%, despite the fact that Delhiites constitute only 1.49% of the country’s population. “The per capita income of Delhi is three times the national average. Delhi’s per capita income is ₹3,54,004, which is about three times higher than the national average of ₹1,28,829 for 2020-21,” said Sisodia.

The Fifteenth Finance Commission allocated grant-in-aid of ₹ 4,36,361 crore for local bodies for 2021-2026. “But Delhi’s local bodies were omitted from this, on the principle that only states are covered under the award scheme. The omission of Delhi’s local bodies by the Union Finance Commission on technical grounds does not help the constitutional mandate of strengthening local bodies,” said Sisodia.