BJP seeks White Paper on use of Central funds to tackle pollution
Accusing the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of corruption, the BJP on Saturday sought from the Delhi government a White Paper on the utilisation of over ₹740 crore provided by the Centre under the National Clean Air Programme to check the city’s rising pollution levels.
In response, AAP credited its government with introducing “the most progressive EV [electric vehicle] policy” in the country and accused the BJP-led Centre of stopping the “rightful share of taxes” to Delhi government from the Central pool.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva alleged that the AAP government did not spend even one-third of the funds given by the BJP-led Centre in the past six years, earning Delhi the distinction of being the “most pollution Capital” in the world.
“The AAP government has no intention of working [for people], they only want to engage in corruption,” he told reporters. He said had the government spent the amount, the city would have been pollution-free by now.
“Streets of Delhi are full of dust and the smog towers [installed to purify air] are lying defunct. This is the proof of [Chief Minister] Arvind Kejriwal’s corruption,” he added.
Demanding a White Paper, BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that the Delhi government continues to cry foul against the Union government to hide its own failures, which are now becoming “evident” to city residents.
BJP’s South Delhi Lok Sabha member Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the Centre has provided ₹742.59 crore to the Delhi government under the clean air plan but it spent only about 30% of the total amount in the past six years.
Delhi Finance Minister Atishi must explain why 70% of the funds remained unspent, said BJP’s New Delhi Lok Sabha member Bansuri Swaraj.
Commenting on the allegations, AAP said its government has been consistently working to address the pollution problem through both short and long-term measures.
‘Plans on the roll’
“As part of these efforts, the government has formulated the winter and the summer action plans,” the ruling party said in a statement.
“In terms of long-term measures, we have converted CNG-run industries to PNG, and inducted electric buses into the DTC fleet, making Delhi the city with the most electric buses in the country and the third-largest city globally in this regard,” the party said.
“However, the Central government has stopped Delhi’s share of taxes from the Central pool. When we demanded the rightful share for Delhiites, who pay ₹2.07 lakh crore in taxes, the BJP responded with unfounded allegations, once again demonstrating its step-motherly treatment,” the ruling party alleged.
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