Delhi gets its first ever 'green Budget'; education sector bags 26% of total outlay

NEW DELHI: The AAP-led government of Delhi on Thursday presented a Rs 53,000 crore budget for 2018-19 fiscal with the major emphasis on the environment and education. The Finance Minister has bid the budget as "Green Budget" which is one of its kind in the history of Delhi. The government has threaded together 26 programmes and schemes of transport, power, environment and Public Works Department for devising a unified system of pollution control, bringing down levels of different pollutants.

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 government has also given a big boost to the education by allocating 26 percent of its budget in this section. Construction of 12,748 additional classrooms and 30 new school buildings would be the main aim of the government this year. "We will set up of Nursery classes in 366 Sarvodaya Vidyalayas are proposed. The government has started "Chunauti 2018" programme in order to develop the textbook reading ability and basic maths skill of students of primary classes," said Sisodia.

In a bid to monitor the teaching process and for the safety of students the government also announced the installation of CCTV cameras in schools. "Installation of 1.2 lakh CCTV cameras in the city by June next year," said Finance Minister while presenting the budget. The government will be providing self-defence training for girl student in all the government school.

Talking about the budget CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "In the budget, the government had taken care of all sections of society. There is a lot for poor people, women, middle class and students. It is a first of its kind Green Budget in the country. Besides education and health, we have focused on roads, sewer and water. We have also stressed on investment in these three areas."

Sisodia, who 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 have 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.