AAP govt to involve people in budget-making exercise

In a novel initiative, the AAP government has decided to involve common people in making Delhi's budget for 2015-16 so that financial allocation can be made based on requirement of various areas.
The government also hinted at undertaking "austerity drive" and reviewing "functioning of unncessary departments" to plug the wastage of resources.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told the Delhi Assembly that after taking people's opinion on the budget, detailed discussions will be held in the House where legislators will take a final call.
He said the initiative will be launched on a pilot basis in 5-10 Assembly constituencies.
"Everytime when budget is being made, there is a request from various departments to enhance their budget. Although these departments have their budget enhanced, work is not done at the ground level.

"This time, we have decided to ask the people how their budget should be instead of allocating money to various departments. We will choose 5-10 Assembly constituencies for the initiative and ask people what kind of work is needed in their area. Their feedback will then be discussed in the House and the budget will be passed accordingly," the Chief Minister said.

Kejriwal said people should have a say on how the funds are spent in their areas and the initiative was an effort to involve the citizens in governance.
"The budget will be made based on the need of the people. We will start the initiative on a pilot basis," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the "mega-mandate" will fail if the government is unable to bring in any systematic difference. He also rubbished the claims on where will the money come from for the new projects.
"It is important to bring change in the system through governance and education. People say from where will the money come from? First, corruption has to be cut down. The budget for building roads in Delhi is Rs 5000 crore annually. With this amount, one can come up with a new smart city.
"We have to review different departments and plug wastage of resources. We might also have to undertake austerity drive or rethink on the practices and policies which have been going on for ages," Sisodia said.