How much money does Arvind Kejriwal's 'free schemes' save for the common man in a month?
When Arvind Kejriwal became the Chief Minister of Delhi in 2015, his two schemes of 200 units of free electricity and 20,000 liters of free water got the most attention and today when the results of the assembly elections are about to come out in Delhi after 10 years, even then the discussion in Delhi is whether these two facilities will continue after the change of government. Now schemes like free bus for women, widow pension, senior citizen pension, pilgrimage scheme are already running and monthly allowance for women is going to be added to it. After all, how much money does a common man save every month from all these schemes…?
Free electricity saves so many rupees
If we look at the electricity tariff in Delhi, then the common people in Delhi currently get free electricity up to 200 units, while the government gives 50% subsidy for 201 to 400 units. The tariff of electricity bill in Delhi is also slab wise. In such a situation, you are charged Rs 3 per unit for up to 200 units and Rs 4.50 per unit for up to 500 units. In this, the fixed charge of the meter, line and maintenance charge and GST are charged separately.
If we look at the bill of just 200 units of electricity, then the common man would have to pay at least Rs 600 for the electricity consumption, Rs 20 for the fixed charge of the meter and the rest of the charges. This would come to around Rs 800 per month. Similarly, if your electricity consumption was up to 400 units, then the bill would be Rs 1800 per month for the consumption and the rest of the expenses would add up to around Rs 2100, but due to the government's 50% subsidy, it comes to between Rs 1100 and Rs 1200. Apart from this, the bill for 200 units is added separately. So free electricity saves every common man an average of Rs 1,000 every month, if nothing else.
benefit of free water scheme
Similarly, in Delhi, the government provides 20,000 liters of free water. Generally, a family uses 500 to 600 liters of water every day. In this way, most of the population of Delhi comes under the scope of this 20,000 liters of free water. If this facility was not available, how much money would you have to spend?
According to the tariff of Delhi Jal Board, for up to 20,000 liters in Delhi, you have to pay a bill of Rs 5.27 for every 1,000 liters. Apart from this, you have to pay a meter charge of Rs 146.41 and a sewer maintenance charge equal to 60% of the total bill. Now if you calculate, your water bill will be around Rs 350 per month. GST is not included in this yet.
But as soon as your water consumption goes beyond 20,000 liters, you will have to pay a charge of Rs 26.36 per 1,000 liters. A fixed charge of Rs 219.62 will also be added to this and you will also have to pay a sewer charge of 60 percent. Apart from this, water bill up to 20,000 liters and GST will also be added to it. In this way, the calculation of water bill for consumption up to 30,000 liters will be approximately Rs 990. In this way, subsidy on water bill also saves you an average of Rs 500 every month.
Free bus travel for women
Arvind Kejriwal's government has been providing free bus service to women since the 2019-20 assembly elections in Delhi. The bus fares in Delhi have not increased for a long time. In such a situation, if we calculate on the basis of a daily pass of Rs 50 per day, then every woman saves at least Rs 1,250 even if she travels 25 days a month.
In such a situation, a common family saves about 2,500 rupees every month from these 3 free schemes of the government. Apart from this, the common family also gets other benefits like free education in government schools in Delhi, free treatment in government hospitals, medicines and tests, pilgrimage scheme, senior citizen, widow and disabled pension. For these assembly elections, the current government of Delhi has promised to give an allowance of 2,100 rupees per month to women. Congress and BJP have also talked about giving 2,500 rupees in the elections.