Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday alleged that the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government left an empty “public exchequer” before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took over. She, however, assured that the scheme to provide financial assistance of Rs 2,500 a month to the women in the Capital — a key poll promise of the party — would be rolled out with thorough planning.
Addressing a press conference, Gupta said that the government held several meetings in the past three days. “During these meetings with officials to review the financial status of the current government, we recorded the financial status…the previous government had left the public exchequer empty,” she said.
Gupta made the remarks while replying to a question related to the monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 to women. “This is an important scheme for women in Delhi and we will implement it with detailed planning,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Gupta attended a BJP legislative party meeting. “Tomorrow, the first Assembly session will be held after the elections where all the MLAs will take oath and a new Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be elected. Pro-term speakers will administer the oath through the L-G,” she said.
The CM said that the BJP-led Delhi government will table the pending CAG reports in the three-day Assembly session and “the previous AAP government will have to answer for every rupee coming from the blood and sweat of the people of Delhi.” The CAG reports, which allegedly raise questions over AAP’s governance, have been a point of contention between the BJP and AAP leaders.
Gupta also assured that the BJP government will fulfill all of its poll promises.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, who was also present at the press conference, said, “…Our government has only one agenda, we have to make the Capital of India a developed capital. In today’s meeting, the opinion of all the members was that we should bring development forward, how we should move forward in that direction without causing pain and suffering to the people.”
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Sachdeva also said that Delhi will fulfill the promises it made to the public and expose the “AAP-da” (disaster) government which tried to fool the people and looted Delhi.
Gupta also held a meeting with the officials of the Finance Department on Saturday to review the finances and budgetary position of Delhi.
“More meetings will take place in the coming days as the Budget will also be presented next month for the next fiscal year. The CM reviewed the current financial status, from where the funds are coming and where it is going…The department is also preparing a white paper on the financial status of Delhi,” a senior official said.
Last year, when the AAP government moved its scheme of financial assistance of Rs 1000 to the women, the Finance Department raised several objections and highlighted in the cabinet note that the implementation of this scheme will create a huge fiscal burden and put the government into a revenue deficit.
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Highlighting the city-state’s financial situation, the Finance Department had advised the previous government not to “bring the draft cabinet note before the council of ministers till a concrete scheme with verifiable data and road map is prepared for the consideration of council of ministers.
Last year, the Delhi government requested a loan of Rs 1,0000 crore from the Central government under the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF). Sources say the approval from “Centre is yet to come”
At present, 15% of Delhi’s total budget is spent on subsidies.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
