How 11th-hour drama over Delhi Budget unfolded
The AAP accused the chief secretary of “sitting” on a file and not passing on MHA’s request for clarifications for three days until 2pm on Monday
The 2023-24 Delhi Budget was sent for the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA)’s approval as per regular practice on March 10, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has said. The MHA expressed concerns about it and refused the approval through a letter to the chief secretary on March 17.
The AAP accused the chief secretary of “sitting” on the file related to it and not passing on MHA’s request for clarifications for three days until 2pm on Monday.
It emerged late on Monday that the requisite approval from the President routed through the MHA has not arrived.
Delhi’s finance minister Kailash Gahlot said the file was sent to him at 6pm on Monday. Subsequently, he responded to MHA’s concerns and submitted the file back to Delhi’s lieutenant governor (LG) after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s approval at 9pm on Monday.
The LG’s secretariat received the file at 9.25pm and it was sent back to the chief minister, who hit out at the Union government for “blocking” the elected government of the Capital from presenting the annual Budget, at 10.05pm for further action.
MHA said that LG, who reports to the Union government, sought some clarifications on March 17 but those were not received.
Gahlot on Tuesday said the Budget presentation has been postponed as he spoke at the beginning of the third day of the Budget session of the Delhi assembly when he was scheduled to present it.
He maintained the Budget presentation was scheduled in advance. “I talked to chief secretary [Naresh Kumar] and principal secretary of finance [Ashish Chandra Verma] and directed them to put up the queries.”
Gahlot blamed Kumar and Verma for the delay. He said the file was sent to Verma on Monday night. “In the morning, [Verma] informed me that the file has been sent to the MHA on Tuesday morning,” said Gahlot.
Gahlot said a decision on the presentation of the Budget will now be taken after necessary approval from the MHA.
Kejriwal said the salary of the Delhi government employees will stop and questioned what was going on while calling it plain hooliganism.
Officials aware of the development said the approval had been held up because “the advertisement budget was larger than the infrastructure budget”.
Gahlot rejected this, accusing MHA officials of “spreading falsehoods”.
A person in the LG’s office said the clarifications were sought on four counts. The first was related to what the LG apparently flagged as inadequate spending on capital expenditure.
The second was related to plans for subsidy as compensation to agencies with uneconomic recovery.
Third, the Delhi government had not implemented central schemes like Ayushman Bharat, which has put additional funds out of its reach. Fourth, the Budget estimate for spending by the information and publicity department was pegged at over ₹500 crore, against a spend of ₹272 crore in the current fiscal.
The Budget must be presented in the assembly before the end of the financial year otherwise the government will not be able to spend money on salaries, social welfare schemes, etc.