Citizens to get spending power worth crores in people’s budget

Government’s intention to introduce a people’s budget was first made public in inaugural Assembly session on Feb 24.

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Kejriwal at the CII conference on Tuesday. (Source: Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

The Delhi government will present its budget in the first week of June, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday. He said the government has begun a budget exercise aimed at “decentralisation of decision-making” and will aim to address the problems of the entire city and also those of various localities.

The government’s intention to introduce a people’s budget was first made public in the inaugural Assembly session on February 24. The government has now identified 12 constituencies from where citizens’ suggestions for utilisation of funds will be sought. Kejriwal, however, did not mention the names of these constituencies.

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“Each of the 12 constituencies will be given Rs 20 crore. Each constituency will be divided into 40 parts. Meetings will be held with the people on April 12, 19 and 26. In these meetings, people in each part can come and say how the Rs 50 lakh allotted should be used.

Whether they want a park wall repaired, a light installed, a road repaired, they can tell us. The demand will be met on the spot with administrative approval and financial sanction,” Kejriwal said.

The chief minister said another step towards making Delhi’s budget will begin from thus Thursday, when he will meet three government departments daily for a month.

“We had schemes for loans. The head of the department told me that last year, they gave a loan of Rs 5 lakh only to one man and they spent Rs 40,000 crore on salary and administration budget. He then told me that I should wind up this department. There are many departments like this. I will hold meetings with every department and they will have to justify why they should exist. We may scrap some schemes,” Kejriwal said.

He also said his government will soon call for budget suggestions from citizens. Citizens whose suggestions interest the government will be asked to make presentations before the Cabinet from May 11 to May 20.

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The government, he said, would soon issue a circular to all IAS and DANICS officers asking “Who wants to be the VAT commissioner of Delhi?” Officers who are interested will be asked to draw up a blueprint, quarterly milestones and state how much revenue they can generate for the government. The government, he said, will provide support in terms of manpower and infrastructure”

“The officer who bags the job will have a quarterly appraisal. There will be no transfer for one year and also no political interference in his work. If he achieves his target, he and his support staff will be given a hefty performance allowance. Aap ek number ka paisa kamao na, doh number ki kya zaroorat hai?” Kejriwal said.

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