AAP govt presents Rs 53,000 cr budget; major thrust on green initiatives, health & education

Laying emphasis on environment, health and education sectors, the AAP government on Thursday presented a Rs 53,000 crore budget for 2018-19 fiscal, while making a slew of announcements, including a major thrust on “green” initiatives for pollution reduction and launching ‘health insurance for all scheme.

The government also announced installation of CCTV cameras in schools, providing self-defence training for girl students, allocating Rs 100 crore for free WiFi, which was a major prepoll promise by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and installation of 1.2 lakh CCTV cameras in the city by June next year, reports PTI.

It also promised implementation of doorstep delivery of government services by June 15, and Rs 1,500 crore for infrastructure development in unauthorised colonies.

This is the first “Green budget” of the government for effective containment of pollution in the city, the deputy chief minister said in the budget session of the Assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The chief minister congratulated Sisodia for presenting a “splendid budget”.

Sisodia, who is also holds the finance portfolio, said the budget follows “trickle up” economics aiming to benefit poor and middle class people in Delhi. “The budget estimates for 2018-19 are pegged at Rs 53,000 crore which is 19.45 per cent more than the revised budget estimates of Rs 44,370 crore for the previous financial year,” he said in his speech which lasted more than one-and-a-half hour.

The budget also put thrust on reducing pollution levels in the national capital by proposing various measures, including concession in registration of CNG cars.