Atishi demands Rs 10,000 cr for Delhi, claims no return on Rs 2 lakh cr tax contribution
Delhi: Finance Minister Atishi on Friday demanded Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre for infrastructure development, claiming the city government got nothing in return over the past year despite its income tax contribution of Rs 2 lakh crore. Delhi also provided Rs 25,000 crore as central GST to the pool of taxes, the minister said during a press conference here.
Ahead of the presentation of the Centre's annual budget, Atishi batted for release of more money to Delhi, saying it could be spent on infrastructure development in road, transport and power sectors as well as to beautify the city.
Asserting that people of Delhi are the highest income tax payers, the minister said, "Delhi should get Rs 10,000 crore from the Rs 2.07 lakh crores that people of the city pay as income tax. This amount of Rs 10,000 crore is just 0.25 per cent of the Central government's budget and only 5 per cent of the income tax of Delhiites."
The Monsoon Session of Parliament will begin from July 22. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget on July 23.
Atishi said the Centre receives Rs 5 lakh crore as taxes from Mumbai and in return, Rs 54,000 crores are given to the Maharashtra government by the Centre. Bengaluru like Delhi also contributes Rs 2 lakh crore as taxes and the Centre provides Rs 33,000 crore from its pool of taxes.
On the other hand, the Centre had been paying only Rs 325 crore to the Delhi government since 2001 from the central pool of taxes. However, even this payment was stopped last year and now the city receives not a single rupee from the Centre, she said.
The minister said the people of the city paid Rs 35,000 crores in the form of taxes last year to the Delhi government that spent in on providing facilities like 24-hour free electricity, free treatment at hospitals, building and maintaining roads and flyovers.
Alleging step-motherly treated with Delhi, she said out of the total Rs 2.32 lakh crore Delhi people gave to the Centre, it did not spend a single rupee on Delhi.
The minister said she did not believe that cities like New York, Tokyo or London faced the treatment meted to Delhi by the Central government.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP secretary Harish Khurana hit back at the minister, accusing her of lying on the issue.
He claimed the Centre gave Rs 4,258 crore in 2015 to the Delhi government that rose to become Rs 11,945 crore in 2022.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
