Delhi Budget to go big on health, transport and infra

They said government may hold the budget session of the Delhi assembly between March 12 and 20 which will the first after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Delhi Budget this year will focus on health, basic infrastructure and transport, senior officials who are drafting the document said, adding government is likely to announce free Covid-19 vaccines for all and a cloud-based patient information management system.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reviewed the ambitious Health Information Management System (HIMS) project, along with Health and Family Welfare Minister Satyendar Jain and other health departmental officials, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

They said government may hold the budget session of the Delhi assembly between March 12 and 20 which will the first after the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last budget (2020-21), which came soon after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept to power in the February 8 assembly elections last year, the government allocated ₹7,704 crore for the health sector, nearly 3% more than the previous fiscal. Health may get the highest allocation this year, the officials said.

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“Among the big-ticket healthcare projects to be announced this year will be the cloud-based health information management system (HIMS). The chief minister has issued directions to roll out the project by August this year. It will start with Delhi government hospitals and then expanded to dispensaries and mohalla clinics. Upgrading a couple of hospitals with increased bed capacity is also on the cards,” said a senior health department official on condition of anonymity.

The HIMS project envisages digital health cards for patients, which will be essentially a QR code-based system that will keep a record of clinical details such as health checks, follow-ups, surgeries, medications and vaccinations for each patient. The system is also supposed to include a mobile phone application as well as a 24x7 call centre to help patients with health-related information, fix consultations and other assistance.

In its past budgets, the AAP government has consistently allocated the maximum share of its resources for education, followed by health. This year, the health sector is likely to get an increased allocation. Last year, the government allocated ₹15,815 crore for education, an increase of 1.3% from the previous year.

The first case of Covid-19 in Delhi was detected on March 2, 2020, after which the city saw three waves of infections. The third and the worst wave peaked on November 11, when around 8,500 cases of the viral infection were recorded on a single day, according to the Delhi government.

“In last year’s budget, the government allocated ₹50 crore in the Covid-19 management fund. This is likely to continue this year and will be increased in all likelihood as the focus shifts to vaccination. The Delhi government is working on making Covid vaccine free for the general public. The Central government has made it free only for healthcare workers and frontline workers,” said a second health official.

Dr Suneela Garg, advisor to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and a member of Delhi’s Covid vaccination plan said a lot of work still needs to be done in terms strengthening health infrastructure in Delhi.

With elections in the three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled municipal corporations scheduled next year, senior AAP leaders said the government is also finding additional ways to optimise resources so as to ease the financial crisis faced by the three civic bodies. The bypolls to five municipal wards will be held on February 28, and the AAP is eyeing these seats to increase its stake in the city’s municipal affairs, a senior AAP member said.

Between January 5 and 25, the government issued orders to all departments asking them to tighten their expenses by prioritising projects under their jurisdiction.

Transport sector may also get a higher outlay this year as the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will start bringing in its new 1,000 low-floor buses and the first lot of the electric buses will also be brought in.

“DTC’s order for buses alone accounts for ₹893 crore with an additional annual maintenance cost of ₹300 crore in the first year since rolling out of these buses. The revised estimate for the transport sector in 2020-21 was about ₹5,000 crore, this is likely to touch ₹7,000 crore in the Delhi Budget 2021-22,” said a senior transport official.

The unfinished projects which are likely to witness investments in the upcoming budget include the plan on redesigning of 540 km of road stretches, the slum rehabilitation project, expanding the water supply network and developing a business park at Rani Khera in northwest Delhi.

“The government has hired consultants for all these projects and they will be rolled out in phases soon. There are no plans to launch new big projects and welfare schemes this year but the government plans to continue investing in the existing ones – especially subsidies on power bills, water and bus commute for women – and allocating money for some of the unfinished ones,” said a senior government official.

The official said, “The government plans to launch the first phase of the slum rehabilitation project with 41,400 EWS houses by October 2022. For the 150-acre business park at Rani Khera, the government has been asked to launch the first phase by May 2023. The deadlines were given by the CM in review meetings chaired by him earlier this month.”