NDMC budget
New Delhi: Health and education were the main focus of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s budget which announced a three-fold increase in the number of seats in its medical college.
But the budget presented on Thursday did not propose any new taxes and no increase has been planned in existing taxes either.
The Atal Bihari Vajpayee College is the only college under any corporation in Delhi.
Named after the former Prime Minister, the college was inaugurated last year and is located in the Bara Hindu Rao hospital campus.
It is affiliated to Indraprastha University. “The college currently has 50 seats and we have planned to expand it to 150. A 200-room multi-storeyed hostel is also proposed in the campus.
“Apart from that, new lecture theatres, nursing units, digital X-ray machines are also on the anvil and measures for improvement in disposal of biomedical waste are also planned,” said NDMC Standing Committee Chairman, Mohan Bhardwaj.
The new multi-storeyed surgery blocks coming up at Hindu Rao Hospital will “accelerate the rate of surgeries” at the old hospital, Bhardwaj said.
“Currently, around 15,000 surgeries are conducted annually in 20 operation theatres at the hospital, but patients have to wait for three to four days for the same. The 40 new operation theatres in the proposed blocks will increase the surgery rates to nearly 60,000 a year,” he said.
A new 500-bed, 11-storeyed modern block has also been proposed at the Kasturba Hospital, one of the oldest hospitals in the city.
As to education, the budget proposes better infrastructure for municipality-run schools.
There are plans on the anvil to also install CCTV cameras for enhanced security at these schools with an outlay of Rs 300 lakh for the purpose.
“Rs 500 for each primary student is proposed for buying uniform, shoes and socks. Efforts are also on to increase the nursery sum to Rs 500 from the current Rs 310,” Bhardwaj said, adding that, “19,350 desks would also be bought”.
A 30-storey ayurvedic hospital in Haiderpur is also proposed at a cost of Rs 600 crore.
Dental health, eye care vans and mobile health vans will also be provided at municipal schools under School Health Scheme.
Meanwhile, as per the new budget, pensions for senior citizens, disabled persons, widows and mentally challenged persons is to be increased from Rs 1,000 to 1,200 per month from April 1 onwards.
An appreciation amount of Rs 2,100 to one per cent of the total number of ‘safai karamcharis’ (sanitation workers) has also been proposed as an annual reward for excellence.
The budget also identifies 48 points where public conveniences for women will be developed. Councillors’ area development fund for the fiscal year 2014-15 is Rs 3.01 crore while the fund for rural works is Rs 3.51 crore. The budget also proposed the closure of the Rural Development Board under the state government and reinstallation of the Rural Area Committee under the jurisdiction of the municipal body.
It was also proposed that 18 other departments be transferred back from under the purview of the state government to the three municipal corporations in Delhi. (PTI)