Delhi government reprimanded by Supreme Court, said- 1100 crores spent on advertisements, no money for rapid rail project?

New Delhi. The Supreme Court reprimanded the Delhi government and said that if the Delhi government can spend Rs 1,100 crore on advertisements, it can also finance the rail project. During the hearing of the case related to the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Project, the Supreme Court, while commenting harshly on the AAP Government of Delhi, said that ‘if Rs 1100 crore can be spent on advertisements in the last three years, then definitely infrastructure projects can be financed’. However, the Delhi State Government today agreed to pay the outstanding amount for the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Project.

The Delhi government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that from 2020 to 2023, Rs 1073.16 crore was spent for advertisements. 296.89 crore in 2020-21, 579.91 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 196.36 crore in 2022-23 were spent on advertisement. Defending this expenditure in its affidavit, the Delhi government said that this expenditure is reasonable and economical for the promotion of government policies. This expenditure is in no way more than the campaign of other states.

Delhi government spent Rs 207 crore on advertising, publicity in three years

The Aam Aadmi Party government said that expenditure on publicity is necessary for good governance and effective administration. The AAP government said that the promise of increasing the state’s revenue from GST has not been fulfilled due to several reasons. Which also includes the effect of the Kovid-19 epidemic. The Delhi government has also appealed to the central government to continue the compensation for the next five years. In the year 22-23, Delhi got GST compensation of Rs 10,000 crore. But in 2023-24 it will get only Rs 3802 crore. Apart from this, the expenditure on essential public services like health care, education and social welfare has also increased.

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Tags: Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government, Delhi AAP, Delhi Govt., supreme court