Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said on Tuesday that the Union Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has meted out a “step-motherly” treatment to the national capital.
Yadav said, “The Union Budget presented in Parliament today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has treated the national capital in a step-motherly manner, as had been happening for the past 10 years, by reducing the budgetary allocation for pollution control, health, education, Delhi Police, women, street vendors, and more shockingly for the resettlement of the poor living in the JJ clusters and unauthorised colonies.”
Attacking the ruling BJP, the Delhi Congress chief said, “The Modi Government seemed to have learned no lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic crisis when thousands of people lost their lives due to lack of medicines, medical facilities, hospital beds to treat the sick. Instead of strengthening the hospital infrastructure, the Union Budget has reduced the allocation for Safdarjung and Lardy Hardinge hospitals, two premier hospitals in the capital.”
There was no hike in funds allocated for air pollution control in the capital, which was one of the capital’s most dangerous crises, been left unaddressed for the past 10 years, by both the Modi Government and the Kejriwal Government, he alleged.
Yadav further said, “Despite crime rates soaring in the capital, Rs 760 crore has been cut from the allocation for the Delhi Police which was needed for the modernisation of the force to streamline its policing methods.”
He said the budget allocation for loans to the street vendors has been “reduced” to Rs 326 crore from the previous year’s Rs 468 crore, which once again exposed the Modi Government’s “anti-poor” attitude.