38% increase in tax collection in 3 months: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said his government has seen a 38 per cent increase in tax collection in the previous three months, claiming that the earnings were even more than the Rs 1,700-crore subsidy for electricity and water.

Speaking at a function here, Kejriwal said the increase in tax collection was without carrying out any raids.

“Since April 1, the government has seen a 38 per cent increase in revenue. This data is unheard of as we have collected tax without carrying out any raids and scrutiny. We gave Rs 1,700 crore as water and electricity subsidy but earned more than that in last three months,” he said.

Kejriwal said it was during election campaign when he found that the rate of electricity was so high that it was impossible for a poor man to run his family. “Despite working for poor, we are being criticised. When we reduced the rate of electricity, economists asked us why we were giving subsidy?” We also gave free supply of water, as the  poor man should not die out of thirst. We determined 20,000 litre a month for a family of five,” he said.

Kejriwal said his government was spending Rs 1,700 crore as subsidy for electricity and water with a budget of Rs 40,000 crore a year.

“If I would have spent Rs 20,000 crore on subsidy, you would have blamed me of financial impropriety. But by giving subsidy for electricity and water to poor people, we are not doing any crime,” he said.

The chief minister claimed that despite giving subsidy, Delhi witnessed least power cuts in the past three years.

“I challenge that if you compare last three years data you will find that there were least power cuts this year. I get daily reports of power cut,” he said.

Claiming that power companies were made accountable for the first time under his government, he said, “Power companies have to give information about power cuts 15 days in advance. If they make unscheduled power cuts, they have to pay fine.” Addressing the issue of farmers, Kejriwal said no rain-hit farmer in Delhi committed suicide as the government gave them maximum compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare.

Elaborating on achievements of AAP government in the field of education, he said it has started a scheme of giving bank loan of Rs 10 lakh to students for higher education.

“Earlier, when parents used to apply for educational loans, banks used to ask for security or guarantee against the loan. But under this scheme, Delhi government is the guarantor,” he said.