With assembly elections likely to be held in Delhi, the state government plans to borrow Rs 10,000 crore from the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) to meet its expenditure for the current financial year 2024-25.
The proposal, being sent to the Union Finance Minister, has been signed by state Finance Minister Atishi despite complaints from the state finance ministry, which feared reduced expenditure due to the Lokpal Code of Conduct (MCC). In fact, it had said that Delhi should be kept out of the NSSF.
Apart from Delhi, only three other states – Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh – borrow from the NSSF, which includes collections under small savings schemes, net after withdrawals. Most states have decided to stay out of the NSSF as these loans are more expensive than Lokpal borrowings.
In a note dated September 2, Delhi’s Union Secretary (Finance) Ashish Chandra Verma has objected to the option of taking a loan from the NSSF this financial year.
“In view of the rising interest rate on loans and the possibility of a decline in its use due to the MCC (imposition of code of conduct), it is suggested that the option of forgoing the NSSF scheme be accepted,” Verma said. In fact, in the last one week, the Aam Aadmi Party has aimed to distribute revdis (free gifts) as part of its campaign for the assembly elections in Delhi.
While launching the 15-day campaign ‘Revdi Pe Charcha’, the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal mentioned the six revdis of the Delhi government – free electricity, water, education, healthcare, bus tickets for women and travel for the elderly and said, “Apart from these six revdis, the seventh revdi is also coming soon.” He then promised that soon Rs 1,000 will start getting deposited in the bank account of every woman in Delhi every month. Responding to questions, a Delhi government representative said, “How much the government borrows in a given year is a routine regulatory decision taking into account a number of factors.” Encouragingly, the representative said the Delhi Financial Survey 2023-24 shows that the Delhi government’s total liability as a percentage of GDP has come down from 6.4 per cent to 3.9 per cent. “This is not the lowest in Delhi’s history, but it is the lowest in India,” the representative said.