Delhi govt.’s ‘Rozgar Budget’ promises 20 lakh new jobs in 5 years

Govt. proposes to create jobs through projects such as ‘Delhi Shopping Festival’ & ‘Rozgar Bazaar’

Finance Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday presented Delhi’s annual budget 2022-23, which he termed as a “Rozgar (employment) Budget” that would create “at least 20 lakh new jobs” over the next five years.

The total budget outlay is ₹75,800 crore, which is larger than last year’s budget estimate of ₹69,000 crore by 9.86%. 

Employment took the centre stage in the budget. Mr. Sisodia said the government aims to increase the percentage of the working population of Delhi from the current 33% to 45% over the next five years.

He said that the way to recover the economy, hit hard by successive waves of COVID-19, was to increase the consumption capacity of the people. 

“You increase the consumption capacity of our citizens, the economy will automatically move forward,” said the Finance minister. 

In the next five years, the government plans to redevelop several iconic retail markets in the city into attractive tourist destinations, Mr. Sisodia said. To begin with, the government will start with five markets this year. 

“For this, a provision of ₹100 crores has been made in the budget of the next financial year. At least 1.5 lakh new job opportunities will be created in the next 5 years from within just 5 markets,” he said.