NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented development that has intensified the confrontation between the Center and the delhi government to a new level, the latter was practically prevented on Monday by the Union Ministry of the Interior from presenting its annual budget in the Vidhan Sabha about inquiries about his proposed advertising and advertising spending in fiscal year 2023-24.
Central government sources said TOI The MHA’s review of the budget found outlay for advertisements and publicity to be higher than for headings like infrastructure development and public welfare initiatives. “Clarification on this has been requested from the Delhi government and has yet to be received,” a senior official said. TOI.
The Delhi government, however, claimed that the budget allocation for advertisements and publicity was the same as last year and had proposed to spend almost 40 times more on infrastructure development. “The concerns raised by MHA are irrelevant and this has apparently been done just to sink the budget,” Delhi finance minister Kailash Gahlot said.

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Although the MHA had conveyed its observations to the Delhi government on March 17, Gahlot said in a statement that he found out about it only at 2 p.m. on March 20 and that the file was officially presented to him at 6 p.m.
He added that the responses to the MHA’s queries were sent to the LG for approval within three hours, at 9pm, via the prime minister. Raj Niwas The sources confirmed that LG VK Saxena gave its approval to the file at 9:25 pm and returned it to the CM for forwarding to the MHA. Once the Home Office is satisfied with it, the budget, or annual financial statement for 2023-24 as it is called in official parlance, will be sent to the President for her approval before it goes before the Assembly. from delhi.
Visibly upset by the development, Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal told an event hosted by a private news channel on Monday night that, for the first time, a state would not be able to present the budget on schedule.
“The Delhi budget cannot be presented tomorrow. It has happened for the first time in Indian history that the central government prevented the Delhi government budget from being presented at the house just a day earlier,” Kejriwal alleged.
“Delhi government staff, doctors and teachers will not receive their salaries. What’s going on? This is goondagardi,” Kejriwal said, lashing out at the Center.
Although the budget session began on March 17 with the LG’s speech, the government presented the economic study and published the budget result on Monday. The annual budget was due to be presented on Tuesday.
Being a union territory with a legislative assembly, the Delhi government must submit the annual budget to the Home Ministry for approval. Only after MHA approval can the budget be presented at the assembly.
Sources in the LG office claimed that LG approved the budget with certain remarks on March 9 and sent it to the prime minister and that MHA had conveyed its remarks to the Delhi government on March 17.
Gahlot, however, said he only learned of the development on Monday. “It is now known that the MHA expressed some concerns about the budget of the Delhi government and refused to give its approval through a letter sent to the chief secretary on March 17, 2023. For mysterious reasons, the chief secretary kept the hidden letter for three days. Gahlot said.
“I only found out about the letter at 2 p.m. today, that is, on March 20, 2023. The file with the letter from the MHA was officially delivered to me only at 6 p.m. today, that is , a day before the budget was due to be presented in the Delhi Assembly,” said the newly appointed finance minister, who would be presenting his inaugural budget.
Gahlot called for an investigation into the role of Delhi’s chief secretary and finance secretary “in delaying the Delhi budget.”
The MHA, in a letter to the Chief Secretary to the Delhi Government, has said that in the interest of the fiscal health of the Union Territory (Delhi), the LG had raised certain concerns. “Therefore, the NCT Government of Delhi is requested to look into the concerns raised by the LG and resubmit them, addressing the concerns, in accordance with the provisions of Section 27(1) and Section 30(1) of the NCT Government of Delhi. Law of 1991 (No. 1 of 1992), so that new measures be adopted in this regard,” the letter said.
Some constitutional experts feel that the Delhi government should not have announced the budget submission date until it received approval from the MHA.
“Delhi’s finance minister simply reads the budget approved by the Union Home Office. Raising objections and seeking clarification is part of the budget approval process. Unless the MHA approves the annual financial statement to be presented to the house, the budget date should not have been announced,” said former Delhi Assembly secretary and constitutional expert SK Sharma.
Sharma, however, added that there was no crisis and there was plenty of time before the Delhi government brought the budget before the chamber. “The budget can easily be passed before the end of the fiscal year,” he said.