Delhi Budget: What will be special in CM Rekha's budget? The challenge of maintaining a surplus budget amid free schemes

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has announced to present the budget of Delhi between 24-26 March. Before presenting the budget, all the MLAs will take the opinion of the people of their respective areas on the budget. By including this in the budget, the BJP government will try to fulfill the promises made in the Sankalp Patra. According to Rekha Gupta, the government will include cleaning Yamuna, empowering women by giving them Rs 2500 every month, thali of five rupees for the poor, bringing new buses for accessible transport to Delhi, and other populist schemes.

The Rekha Gupta government will have to face many challenges to prepare the budget. They have to fulfill all the promises made in the BJP's Sankalp Patra. Along with this, there is also the challenge of keeping the budget of Delhi a surplus budget. The Aam Aadmi Party government has always been patting its back for the fact that it has shown the budget of Delhi as a surplus budget. If the government has to present a weak budget under the pressure of free schemes, then it may have to face severe criticism from the opposition.

A big budget is needed for big schemes.

In the financial year 2015-16, Delhi's budget was Rs 37,750 crore. In 2024-25, it had become Rs 76,000 crore. The most credit for this spectacular increase in Delhi's budget is given to the GST model of the Central Government, due to which there has been an unexpected increase in the income of the Central Government as well as all the states of the country. But in Delhi, the new expenditure of some items has increased as compared to the previous budget, while there are chances of huge budgetary increase in some. In such a situation, the government faces the challenge of paying these expenses as well as keeping the budget balanced.

Who will get what in the budget?

The biggest challenge before the BJP is to provide financial assistance of Rs 2500 every month to women. The government is preparing to hold a meeting for this and decide its outline. But it is believed that the government may have to spend a huge amount on this scheme alone. The BJP has described the cleaning of Yamuna as its most important project. To implement this scheme, a huge amount will have to be spent on cleaning the drains of Delhi and making arrangements for providing clean water. BJP has increased the pension for women, the elderly, widows, and the handicapped. Arrangements will have to be made for them in the budget too.

What is the expectation?

Women entrepreneur Malvika Sahni, who is working for women empowerment, told that the scheme of giving Rs 2500 every month to women is very good. It has to be seen what criteria the government sets for this category and how many women in Delhi will benefit from this scheme. But her personal opinion is that the government should focus on employing women along with economic empowerment so that they can become independent empowered women and become a strong source of income for their families.

Bhagirath Vyapar Mandal leader Sachin Gupta said that it is expected that the new government will not impose any new tax. He said that the traders of Delhi give the highest revenue to the government, but they do not get any special exemption. On top of that, they often have to face troubles in paying taxes. Paying GST repeatedly in the same financial year, calculating it, and paying it is still a cause of trouble for businessmen. It is expected that the new government will try to improve these.