Delhi govt presents Rs 75,800-cr ‘Rozgar budget’; aims to create 20 lakh jobs in 5 years

The education sector, where the AAP government has claimed much success, will get Rs 16,278 crore, which is 22 per cent of the total budget outlay and makes it the highest allocation. The health sector, another critical area, has been allotted Rs 9,769 crore and the transport sector Rs 9,539 crore, each accounting for around 13 per cent share of the total budget.

Calling it the ‘Rozgar budget’, Sisodia said that the city government will spend Rs 4,500 crore in the next five years to generate 20 lakh jobs and Rs 800 crore will be set aside in the 2022-23 budget for the purpose.

The budget size of 2022-23 is 9.86 per cent higher than the annual financial statement for 2021-22 was called the ‘Deshbhakti’ (patriotism) budget by the Kejriwal government.

“Other states have learnt a lot from the Kejriwal model of governance when it comes to improving government schools and creating jobs. I am sure that with this ‘Rozgar Budget’, Delhiites will be benefitted.

“In the next one or two years, state governments will also learn from this (Rozgar Budget) on how both government and private sectors can provide opportunities for people,” Sisodia said presenting the budget for the eighth consecutive year in the Delhi Assembly.

The government aims to increase the percentage of the working population of Delhi from 33 per cent to 45 per cent in the next five years. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that price rise and unemployment are the two biggest problems faced by the common man and asserted that his government’s plan to create 20 lakh jobs was not any hollow poll promise.

“Each thing has been precisely planned and minutely analysed. Proper allocations have been made in each of the eight areas of job creation,” he said. However, opposition Congress and BJP in the national capital criticised the budget as “anti-poor and a “bundle of lies”.

Delhi Congress president Chaudhary Anil Kumar alleged the Kejriwal government indulged in a gimmick by naming it ‘Rozgar Budget’ and claimed Delhi had become the most polluted capital in the world after Sisodia presented his ‘Green Budget’ in 2018.

In a first, the Delhi government announced that a survey will be conducted to ascertain how many people got employment as a result of expenditure incurred on different programmes and schemes. Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that Delhi’s economy is recovering gradually from the impact of COVID-19.

The government has identified eight sectors – retail, food and beverages, logistic and supply chain, travel and tourism, entertainment, construction, real estate and green energy sectors – as job creators. It aims to create 1.5 lakh employment opportunities by the redevelopment of well-known five retail markets, three lakh through virtual Delhi Bazar portal and one lakh through artificial intelligence-based app ‘Rozgar Bazar’.

It also aims to create 60,000 jobs by implementing a ‘Food Truck’ policy, 42,000 through Cloud kitchen, one lakh through green initiatives, and 25,000 with the launch of smart urban farming, among other areas.

An electronic city will be set up at Baprola to create 80,000 jobs by attracting big IT companies, Sisodia said, adding that the AAP dispensation will also generate one lakh “green” jobs by starting the “Smart Urban Farming” campaign.

There is a plan to add 25,000 e-autos and install rooftop solar plants of a cumulative 2,500-megawatt capacity. Aiming to strengthen the night-time economy and promote the food and beverages industry, the government will provide land for cloud kitchens, redevelop major food hubs, and bring in a food truck policy in the national capital.

The deputy chief minister said that the government is preparing a policy to allow food trucks to operate at designated places in the city from 8 pm to 2 am, adding that new employment opportunities will be created. A cloud kitchen is a restaurant with no physical storefront or simply a delivery-only restaurant.
In such a set-up, people operate in a commercial, centralised kitchen where they partner up with third-party delivery service apps such as Swiggy and Zomato to distribute their food to the public.

Sisodia said an artificial intelligence-based website and a mobile application — “Rozgar Bazaar 2.0” — will be launched with an aim to provide at least one lakh jobs every year to the youngsters of Delhi, especially women.

On allocation to municipal corporations, Sisodia said that the AAP government will provide financial support of Rs 4,374 crore to the local bodies. The budget document shows that the GST and VAT will be the biggest grosses of the Delhi government’s tax revenue that is pegged at Rs 47,700 crore.

Other major contributors will be small savings loans and goods and services tax(GST) compensation) at Rs 10,000 crore each or 13.2 per cent. The tax revenue will comprise Rs 9500 crore (20 per cent) from state excise in 2022-23. Meanwhile, several traders associations cast doubt on Delhi’s government plans for promoting the night economy, saying the law and order situation in the city is “poor” and it is not safe to open businesses and shops beyond a particular time.