MCD share in Delhi budget up 33%

Prior to the reunification of the MCD by the MHA in mid-2022, the BJP had, on more than one occasion, accused the AAP-led government of deliberately starving it of funds and even staged sit-in protests outside the CM’s residence over the issue in 2021.

Gahlot said the allocation for local bodies included Rs 2,659 crore in the form of linked funds for implementation of schemes, programmes, projects by it; Rs 2,492 crore in the form of Basic Tax Assignment; and Rs 2,240 crore as part of Stamp and Registration and one-time parking charges.

The allocation, Gahlot said, also included Rs 850 crore categorised as a ‘loan to local bodies’.

Last year, a tied fund of Rs 2,305 crore for implementation of schemes, programmes and projects by local bodies; Rs 2,069 crore as Basic Tax Assignment; and Rs 1,780 crore as share in stamps and registration fees and one-time parking fee were part of the allocation.

Clearing the three landfill sites in Delhi within two years — at Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur — is one of the main promises made by the government in the budget.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly raised questions related to eliminating “the garbage mountains” arguing that the BJP itself had set a target against it while in power in the MCD.

“Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has admitted that the garbage is being disposed of faster than capacity. The AAP won the corporation elections by lying to the people of Delhi that the BJP is not able to remove the mountains of garbage. Now, AAP leaders are patting themselves on the work done by the BJP,” he alleged.