The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has been able to spend only 85 percent of the state budget, on average, over the last three financial years, as the tussle between the AAP govt and Lt Governor Anil Baijal takes a toll on Delhi’s Rs 6-lakh-crore economy, an IndiaSpend analysis of data showed.
The previous Congress government in Delhi, led by Sheila Dikshit, had an average utilisation of 98 percent between 2008 and 2013. The spending slowdown and tussle come at a time when the Delhi state budget has increased 29.3 percent since 2013.
“The decisions of the LG affect planned expenses,” Nagender Sharma, advisor (media affairs) to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, told IndiaSpend.
“Projects like 1,000 mohalla (neighbourhood) clinics and CCTV installations getting delayed does affect the budget expenditure.”
The plan to install 1,40,000 CCTVs across Delhi at a cost of Rs 350 crore was delayed due to the tussle between the AAP government and the LG, the Times of India reported on 6 May 2018.
Only 160 of the planned 1,000 mohalla clinics were operational at the end of December 2017, DNA reported on 24 April, 2018.
Since the AAP came to power in 2015, the LG has rejected or delayed 32 proposals, according to a government report presented by finance minister Manish Sisodia to the Delhi assembly on 4 April, 2018.
In turn, the LG accused the state government of “deliberately” and “persistently” flouting the scheme of governance of the capital.
“It may be noted that this scheme of constitutional governance has been in existence in Delhi since 1993 and past governments have shared a harmonious relationship with the office of the Lt Governor,” Baijal wrote on 5 April 2018.
“However, the present elected government has deliberately and persistently chosen to act in contravention of scheme of governance of NCT of Delhi.”
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Decisions taken by the Delhi state Assembly are reviewed by the LG of Delhi, appointed by the President on the recommendation of the home ministry. The LG has administrative powers under Article 239AA of the Constitution and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act,1991 (GNCTD Act).
The Constitution says the LG’s administration powers supersede Delhi government in matters of public order, police and land, reinforced with the GNCTD Act,1991.
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The budget presented on 25 June 2015, for the year 2015-16, allocated 26 percent and 9.5 percent to education and health, respectively – one of the highest allocations for the education sector by any state in India.
On education, the utilisation rate was 62 percent in 2014-15 and 57 percent in 2015-16 but picked up pace to 79 percent in 2016-17.
On health, the utilisation rate ranged between 83 percent and 79 percent. Under the previous Congress government, the average utilisation rates were 100.5 percent and 79.6 percent in the education and health sectors, respectively.
Part of the under-utilisation of the budget may be attributed to the overlapping jurisdictions of the Centre, the state and the three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs).
With different parties at the helm – the AAP in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and the three MCDs – frequent tussles are reported between the AAP and the BJP.
In a tweet on 5 June 2018, Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lt Governor Anil Baijal of creating hurdles in Delhi’s development.
This (rejection or delaying of approval) seems to reflect that the non-substantive queries and clarifications are merely a means to delay, derail or scuttle policies of the elected government.Manish Sisodia said on 4 April 2018, while presenting the LG Outcome report.
(The story was originally published on IndiaSpend and has been republished with permission. The writer is Manpreet Singh, an MSc student at the Symbiosis School of Economics, Pune and is an intern with IndiaSpend.)
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