‘Historic’ Budget focus areas 26 march, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard This is not an ordinary Budget. It is the first step to developing Delhi, which was ruined in the past 10 years X.com/TheMornStandard l at e s t ta l k s Russia, Ukraine to halt Black Sea ops Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 This budget will accelerate development by taking education and health to new heights women safety focus of viksit budget capital expenditure almost doubled to `28K cr edu budget raised to `19K cr `13K cr for Transport, roads, bridges `12.9K cr for health Baijayant Jay Panda, BJP `1,00,000 cr Mahila Samridhi Yojana An allocation of `5,100 cr for the Mahila Samridhi Yojana, a flagship scheme focused on women’s empowerment promised before the Assembly elections `210 crore earmarked for Mukhyamantri Matru Vandana Yojana to support pregnant women and newborns. They would get `21K and six nutrition kits FM: Will meet revenue targets despite tax relief E x p r ess n e ws se r v i c e @ New Delhi THE government could ‘realistically’ achieve personal income tax collection targets despite offering huge tax relief, Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman said on Tuesday while responding to the debate on Budget in the Lok Sabha. The House passed the Finance Bill 2025 — the piece of legislation that gives legal backing to the tax proposals and other fiscal measures announced in the Budget — with 35 amendments. “The Finance Bill provides unprecedented tax relief to honour taxpayers. We have recognised their contribution,” she said. “The projected tax collections for FY26 are based on solid data,” Sitharaman said. With the passage of the Finance Bill 2025, the Lok Sabha completed its part of the Budgetary approval process. The Budget process for FY26 will be complete after the Rajya Sabha also approves it. The education Budget has fallen below 20%, showing BJP agenda to destroy government schools Women in distress 60 ‘CM Shri Schools’ Budget Special `100 crore has been allocated for 60 new ‘CM Shri Schools’, in line with PM Shri Schools. Special drives to instill business mindset among students will be taken Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at the Vidhan Sabha before presenting the Budget 2025-26 on Tuesday | parveen negi Free Speech Fury Kamra Defies Summons, refuses to apologise S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai The Mumbai Police on Monday summoned stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for questioning the next day over a case registered against him for lampooning Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a recent performance in Mumbai. However, Kamra refused to appear immediately, citing death threats and concerns for his safety He reportedly request. ed a week’s time to comply Kamra also took . to social media and said he had no reason to apologise since he had only repeated what deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar had already said. The police, investigating whether Kamra was compensated to mock Shinde, have registered a case under the BNS and are examining his phone and call records. The controversy erupted after Kamra’s performance, in which he parodied the song Bholi Si Surat to call Shinde a gaddar (traitor), referencing his 2022 rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray. Following the video’s release, Shiv Sena workers vandalised a comedy club and demanded its closure. Eleven workers were arrested and later granted bail. The BMC also demolished part of the club. Kamra defended the comedy club, saying a venue is not responsible for a comedian’s words. I do not fear the mob. I wouldn’t go under my bed waiting for the controversy to die down Kunal Kamra Kamra trolls BMC Kunal Kamra left a voicemail with his song, Hum Honge Kangaal and mocked BMC by saying his next show be held at place which needs to be razed An additional `500 crore has been set aside for cleaning the Yamuna, with 40 decentralised sewage treatment plants to be constructed Plans for new expressways, improved road infra, and development of industrial zones to prevent industry migration to NCR regions 250 crore for repairing old sewer lines `50 cr for rainwater harvesting initiatives `150 cr for emergency water projects `5,100 crore allocated to Mahila Samridhi Yojana, which will pay `2,500/ month to women `210 cr has been set aside for pregnant women’s care, 100 ‘Atal Canteens’ with a budget of `100 cr to ensure food security for the poor 5,000 CCTV cameras will be installed to ensure a better and safer environment for women HEALTHCARE Matru Vandana Yojana The monthly financial aid for ‘women in distress’ and those with disabilities will be increased from `2,500 to `3,000, for which `3,227 crore has been set aside Plans for new expressways, improved road infra, and development of industrial zones to prevent industry migration to NCR regions to convert the Haryana-Delhi canal into a pipeline WOMEN WELFARE enhance women’s safety, and set up Sakhi Hostels. She said that `1 lakh crore Amid the chants of ‘Modi-Mo- for the year 2025-26 would be fidi’, Chief Minister Rekha nanced from the following: tax Gupta presented the BJP gov- revenue of `68,700 crore, nonernment’s first Budget of `1 tax revenue of `750 crore, small lakh crore after 27 years, focus- savings loan of `15,000 crore, ing on infrastructure develop- central road funds of `1,000 ment, water, electricity, wom- crore, centrally-sponsored en’s safety and empowerment, schemes of `4,128 crore, grant, in the Assembly on Tuesday. in-aid from the Centre of `7,348 Gupta’s speech — lasting two crore and the remaining hours and 19 minutes — was a amount from the opening balscathing criticism of the previ- ance. Seventy-two percent of ous AAP government, holding the Budget was allocated for Arvind Kejriwal’s party guilty revenue expenditure. of ignoring the city’s The government will focus infrastructure. on cleaning and rejuvenating She described the Budget the Yamuna, followed by “historic” and declared clean drinking water, that the days of corrupwith `9,000 crore allocattion and inefficiency ed for related projects. were over. “With the ‘Viksit budgpg 3, 4 and 5 “This is not an ordiet, ‘Delhi is entering a nary Budget. It is the first new era of traffic-free exstep to developing Delhi, pressways, seamless connecwhich was ruined in the past 10 tivity elevated corridors, and a , years. Delhi went down in eve- smart surveillance system,” ry aspect of development in the she said. past decade. The previous govThe health sector got `6,874 ernment ruined the economic crore, prioritising wellness health of the national capital centres and expanding the Aylike termites,” Gupta said. u s h m a n A r o g ya M a n d i r Gupta, who also holds the fi- scheme. The government also nance portfolio, informed that set aside `210 crore for nutrient the budgetary allocation rose kits and an allowance of `21,000 by 31.5% from the previous to expecting mothers. year, and capital expenditure The transport sector received doubled to `28,000 crore from `12,952 crore, and the govern`15,000 crore in 2024-25. ment allocated `1,000 crore for The BJP government kept its improved transport links conpoll promises by allocating necting the NCR. `5,100 crore to provide `2,500/ The government set aside month to eligible women, 50,000 `6,897 crore for the Municipal additional CCTV cameras to Corporation of Delhi. An additional allocation of `1,000 crore made in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport to improve NCR connectivity 200 crore to ‘revive’ delhi A n u p Ve r m a a n d I f r a h M u f t i @ New Delhi A big portion of the capital expenditure — `28,000 crore, nearly double last year’s `15,000 crore — has been earmarked for infrastructure The Delhi Jal Board has been allocated `9,000 crore — three times higher than previous years — to strengthen water supply WATER, YAMUNA Russia and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to halt military strikes in the Black Sea, achieving a first step towards peace in talks with the US held in Saudi Arabia. Rekha Gupta, CM The BJP government’s first Budget seeks to keep poll promises by earmarking funds for key sectors as well as making provisions for adotion of Central schemes... INFRASTRUCTURE Wednesday Atishi, ex-CM Saurav Roy INDUSTRY `1,000 cr for upgrading 24 unfinished or poorly maintained hospitals Formation of Traders’ Welfare Board 400 new Ayushman Arogya Mandirs will be set up at a cost of `320 cr Ayushman Bharat scheme will be implemented with an added top-up of `5L insurance coverage Plans to stop migration by developing industrial areas, a warehouse policy A Global Investment Summit will be held to attract foreign investors `50 cr for small industries Central schemes enter Delhi grid A S HI S H S RIVA S TAVA @ New Delhi The BJP government has paved the way for the implementation of key central schemes aimed at improving primary healthcare, housing, and sustainable energy which , will improve the living standards of Delhi residents. One of the major highlights is the Ayushman Bharat scheme, a key poll promise of the BJP which , will receive an allocation of `2,144 crore. Under this, insurance coverage for residents will be expanded to `10 lakh, of which, the city government will bear `7 lakh. A budget of `320 crore has been allocated for the expansion of Health and Wellness Centres or Ayushman Arogya Mandir, with plans to set up 400 new centres to strength- Ability in India to interfere with polls: Canada J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India has the ‘intent and capability’ to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes, a media report said quoting Vanessa Lloyd, the deputy director of operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Lloyd claimed that China, Russia and Pakistan too could interfere in the federal election campaign. She was addressing a briefing on Monday on efforts to protect the integrity of the general election, voting for which takes place on April 28. Lloyd added that “hostile state actors” were increasingly leveraging AI to meddle in the polls announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday . Under a federal protocol introduced in 2019, the news channel CTV News said a panel of bureaucrats had the power to warn the public if it decided one or more incidents threaten Canada’s ability to hold a fair vote. Most threat actors “likely have adapted their tradecraft to conceal foreign interference activity making it more challeng, ing to detect”, Lloyd said. en primary health facilities. The PM-ABHIM scheme will receive `1,666 crore to bolster critical care and diagnostic infra, while `147.64 crore has been allocated to enhance financial protection under Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). Additionally digital transforma, tion of healthcare services will be prioritised with `9.92 crore set aside for implementing the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Infrastructure development is a key focus, as the government aims to ensure seamless connectivity and congestion-free roads. A fund of `1,000 crore has been allocated to improve Delhi-NCR connectivity . Additionally the government has , proposed `20 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to support affordable housing for residents. Additionally, a provision of `50 crore has been made for the ‘Palna–National Creche Scheme’, to establish 500 Palna-Anganwadicum-creche centres to support working mothers. To ensure affordable and nutritious food, the government has allocated `100 crore to set up Atal canteens across 100 locations by the centenary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth. In a step towards energy solutions, the government is signing an MoU with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to implement the ‘PM Surya Ghar: Free Electricity Scheme’. Under this initiative, residential consumers will get subsidies of up to `78,000 to promote solar energy adoption. SC panel begins ‘currency stash’ probe and visits site S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y & N a m i ta B a j pa i @ New Delhi / Lucknow the Supreme Court-appointed committee on Tuesday began its probe into the discovery of cash from the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma, even as the Allahabad High Court Bar Association started an indefinite strike in protest against the proposed transfer of the tainted judge to the Allahabad HC. The probe panel members — Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of High Court of Punjab and Haryana; Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of High Court of Himachal Pradesh; and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of High Court of Karnataka — reached Justice Varma’s official residence at 30, Tughlak Crescent, in New Delhi at 1 pm. They spent around 45 minutes there and examined the room where the stash of cash was allegedly found, sources said. It was not immediately known whether Justice Varma was at his residence when the inquiry panel visited. The panel’s findings will be crucial in Himachal Pradesh HC Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia, a member of the panel set up by the SC, arrives at Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence, in New Delhi on Tuesday | pti There have been attempts to cover up... Until a resolution is reached, we won’t resume work, no matter consequences —Allahabad HC Bar Association deciding the fate of Justice Varma, who is facing allegations of corruption following the discovery of cash at his home following a fire incident on the night of March 14. Justice Varma, who has since been de-rostered by the Delhi High Court, has denied the allegations against him terming the whole affair a conspiracy . The SC Collegium on Monday confirmed that it had recommended Justice Varma’s transfer to Allahabad HC, triggering fiery protests from the bar association, which urged the Central government not to clear the Collegium’s decision. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday held a meeting of floor leaders to discuss judicial accountability in the wake of the developments. The meeting came a day after Dhankhar interacted with Leader of the House J P Nadda and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, and referred to the mechanism for judicial appointments after the passage of the NJAC Act in 2014, which the SC later struck down. P8