Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot was to present the budget for the Union Territory on Tuesday. But the Centre raised objections over the AAP government’s allocation for advertisement and publicity and didn’t approve the budget. What is the charge and what are the Delhi government’s claims?
The Delhi government put on hold the presentation of the budget, which was slated for Tuesday, after it failed to get clearance from the Union home ministry. The biggest concern that the Centre flagged, according to sources, was the UT government’s high expenditure allocation for advertisements and publicity while not focusing enough on infrastructure development. The lieutenant governor, too, had flagged in December last year the Delhi government’s increase in ad spend.
“The AAP government has so far not responded to our queries,” a source in the Union Home Ministry was quoted by PTI as saying.
AAP government officials denied the Centre’s charges. PTI quoted sources in the AAP government as saying that the allocation for advertisement and publicity in this budget was the same as in the last year’s budget.
AAP government officials said the total budget size was Rs 78,800 crore, out of which Rs 22,000 crore was earmarked for expenditure on infrastructure and just Rs 550 crore on advertisements.
Lieutenant governor VK Saxena had in December 2022 flagged a 3,787 per cent jump in the Delhi government’s advertisement and publicity budget in 9 years.
AAP ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CENTRE
AAP national spokesperson and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the Home Ministry expressed some concerns about the Delhi government’s budget and refused to grant its approval in a letter sent to Delhi chief secretary on March 17.
“He sat on it for three days. This is bigger than any anti-national activity. This should be investigated. The Centre is behind this conspiracy and the budget is being delayed at its behest,” AAP’s Bharadwaj alleged.
Saurabh Bharadwaj asked how could a ‘babu’ sitting at the Centre question the expenditure of the government.
