New Delhi, 4 March

Delhi's Finance Minister Atishi presented the FY25 budget in the State Assembly on Monday with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore, announcing the 'Mukhyamamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' under which women aged 18 and above will get Rs 1,000 per month, and asserted the government is inspired by the ideals of Ram Rajya.

In the budget tabled in the State Assembly ahead of the General Elections, she also announced that the Business Blasters scheme, which was till now being implemented in schools, will now be implemented in universities and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

Last year, the government had allocated Rs 78,800 crore for the financial year 2023-24 and announced nine schemes as part of the G20 preparations. The Delhi government's budget size for 2022-23 was Rs 75,800 crore and Rs 69,000 crore in the preceding year.

This was the first time that Atishi presented the budget after taking charge of the finance department last year.

In her budget speech, she remembered Manish Sisodia, former education minister, and Satyendar Jain, former health minister, for their roles in shaping the education and health models in the national capital. "This is a moment of pride that the Kejriwal government is presenting its tenth budget today (on Monday). I am not just presenting the tenth budget but a picture of changing Delhi. Kejriwal came as a ray of hope. We are all inspired by Ram Rajya. We are working hard towards realising the dream of Ram Rajya," she said.

She proposed an allocation of Rs 16,396 crore for the education sector and highlighted the achievements of the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) government in the field. Under the education budget, Rs 100 crore has been allocated to the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) for training teachers, and another Rs 150 crore has been proposed for the construction of new schools and classrooms.

She proposed Rs 45 crore for the maintenance of existing classrooms and Rs 42 crore for Schools of Specialised Excellence in the 2024-25 fiscal. The minister announced an allocation of Rs 118 crore for sports education, Rs 1,212 crore for higher education and technical education and Rs 15 crore for "Business Blasters Senior". "The Kejriwal government will implement Business Blaster scheme in its universities and Industrial Training Institutes through Rs 15 crore allocation in budget," she added.

The government announced a budget of Rs 8,685 crore for the health sector with Rs 6,215 crore being proposed for hospitals to maintain good facilities. "Under the Delhi government, there are 38 hospitals where treatment is provided free of cost to more than 81,000 OPD patients daily and 65,806 IPD patients monthly," she said.

OPD stands for out-patient department, while in-patients department is referred as IPD. There are 530 Mohalla Clinics in Delhi currently, where every day, 64,000 people receive free medicines, tests, and treatment. So far, Mohalla Clinics have conducted more than seven crore OPD visits, she said.