Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit will soon write to the Central government for delayed funds which are affecting the development in the national capital. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting on Monday chaired by Ms Dikshit.
In the meeting, principal secretary finance, D.M. Sapolia gave a presentation on the review of finance committee to the CM and her ministers. It was observed in the presentation that the city government is not receiving the complete funds allocated by Central government under various development schemes.
It was also observed in the meeting that the Union government has delayed at least 50-55 per cent funds under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), urban infrastructure and governance (UIG) and funds for improving basic services to the urban poor. Keeping an eye on the Assembly elections, slated for December 2013, development in recently regularised colonies is also a matter of concern for Ms Dikshit.
Senior officials said that the CM will write letters to concerned departments and ministries to release the remaining funds to the government as early as possible as various civic and infrastructure projects are pending to complete. A senior Delhi government official said that the roads, which has been recently taken from municipal corporations because of bad maintenance, is on the priority list of the government.
Earlier on November 16, while attending a meeting of chief ministers of north zone states chaired by Union finance minister P. Chidambaram, Ms Dikshit had demanded a share in Central taxes like other states.
She demanded an increase in Central budgetary allocation to Delhi, saying it has been stagnant at `325 crores per annum for last 10 years.