Centre must keep politics away, present budget that is good for Delhi: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday urged the Centre to keep politics away and present a "good" budget that focusses on issues like pollution, transport and Yamuna cleaning. Kejriwal said he would write to the Centre and request special allocation in the Union budget for tackling pollution and ensuring the city's cleanliness.

"The Centre should keep politics away from the budget and I want to request the Centre to present a good budget," he said. "I have been under pressure from all corners to write to the Election Commission objecting to the budget being announced on February 1 during the period of the model code of conduct being in force. But I am not in favour of stalling the announcement of the budget by the government merely for the election," Kejriwal told reporters.

He appealed to the central government to make new announcements for solving problems that the people of Delhi face. "There are so many problems that need to be solved like pollution, Yamuna cleaning, sewerage, etc. The Centre should make announcements on all these issues. Politics should not come in the way of Delhi's development," he said.

Briefing the media, Kejriwal said he believes the progress and development of Delhi should not stop at any cost. "We would want the budget to include policies and schemes for the progress and development of Delhi," he said.

Kejriwal said the Central budget must provide adequate funds for the reduction of pollution in Delhi. "They should also provide adequate funds to the state governments of Punjab and Haryana, to take preventive measures on the pollution caused by stubble burning in these states.

To bring the transportation sector in Delhi at par with the international standards, the government must provide funds to improve the transport infrastructure in Delhi," he said. He said adequate funds must be provided to the Delhi government for cleaning up of river Yamuna, to provide sewer connections to each household, expansion of metro routes in the city, and for the cleaning of Delhi.

"We want this for the welfare of our state so that any party that forms the government in the state can utilise those funds efficiently," he added The CM also pointed out the inadequacy of funds provided to the MCD by the central government.

"We also want the MCD to get adequate funds from the central government. The budget from the central government to the MCD will pass through the Delhi government, but we have time and again requested funds for the MCD and have assured the centre that the funds will be transferred to the MCD on the same day," he said. "Irrespective of who wins the election on February 8, whichever party comes to power will then be able to utilise those funds for the people of Delhi," he added.

"Even if we do not receive adequate support from the central government, we will not let the development of Delhi stop. More funds will accelerate the development process of Delhi but we will keep on working for the people," Kejriwal said. PTI UZM UZM RDM RDM

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)