Ahead of the union budget, Delhi Minister Atishi demanded the Centre to allocate at least 5 per cent of its over Rs 2 lakh crore income tax contribution for developing infrastructure in the national capital.
Atishi charged the Bharatiya Janata party-led Centre was treating the national capital in a step-motherly manner and it did not receive a single rupee from the Centre as tax share last year.
Addressing presspersons, the Aam Aadmi Party leader charged while Delhites pays over Rs 2 lakh crore as income tax, the state gets nothing in return as tax share. “Delhi is among the states that pay the highest income tax in the country. Last year, Delhites paid Rs 2.07 lakh crore to the central government as income tax and Rs 25,000 crore in GST. But in return, Delhites did not get even a single penny from the central government as tax share,” she said.
Atishi charged since 2001, the Centre had been paying only Rs 325 crore to the Delhi government from the central pool of taxes. However, even this payment was stopped last year, and now the city receives not a single rupee.
Atishi said, “Maharashtra got Rs 54,000 crore as tax share, and Karnataka got Rs 33,000 crore. When the people of Delhi pay taxes honestly, why does the BJP-ruled central government treat them step-motherly? The demand of Delhites is that in this budget, Delhi should get only 5 per cent of their total tax i.e. ₹10,000 crore, so that the pace of development of Delhi increases further. This is the rightful money of Delhi and Delhites.”
-with PTI inputs.