Rs 803 crore municipal corporation budget passed in 15 minutes in Ludhiana,municipal corporation budget, Ludhiana municipal corporation budget
- Details
- Category: Punjab Political News
- Last Updated: Friday, 27 March 2015 13:02
State Budget 2015: Rs 803 crore municipal corporation budget passed in 15 minutes in Ludhiana
LUDHIANA: Ludhiana municipal corporation passed an interim budget of Rs 803 crore without any discussion on Thursday. Importantly, budget had no major development project for residents.
Budget was read out by district controller finance and accounts (DCFA) officer SK Gupta in a special budget meeting at municipal corporation office Zone A under the chairmanship of mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwarhia and MC commissioner GK Singh.
Out of a total of 75 councillors, only 52 councillors attended the budget session. The budget for biggest municipal corporation of the state was passed in 15 minutes.
This budget comprised developmental works worth over Rs 132 crore. These included construction of new roads and repair of dilapidated roads.
A meagre amount of Rs 2 crore was kept for the repair of old bridges and Rs 15 crore for the construction of new bridges.
A major chunk of this budget (Rs 289 crore) has been kept for salaries of the employees and other related purposes and Rs 100 crore has been kept for electricity bills. Budget proposals were criticized by the BJP and Congress alike.
"Income of the municipal corporation is dipping with every passing year and nothing is being done to check the same and that too when the MC is facing financial crisis," said RD Sharma, deputy mayor from BJP.
Congress councillor and district president Gurpreet Gogi said there was nothing in the budget for the development of the city. He said the government was not doing anything except making tall speeches.
Taking a potshot on the government, Congress councillor took out a jacket saying that he had got this Narendra Modi jacket during PM visit to Australia. He requested the mayor to put the jacket on auction for pulling out the municipal corporation of the financial crisis leaving the entire gathering in fits of laughter.
Highlights of the budget 2015-16 compared to 2014-15:
Expenditure on new roads reduced from Rs 100 crore to Rs 23 crore
Expenditure on old and new bridges reduced from Rs 200 crore to Rs 17 crore
Budget for new parks reduced from Rs 3 crore to Rs 2.5 crore
Budget expenditure on slums reduced from Rs 31 crore to Rs 8.5 crore
Income from property tax reduced from Rs 90 crore to Rs 50 crore
Income from advertisements reduced from Rs 4 crore to 3.7 crore.
Income from sale of property reduced from Rs 25 crore to Rs 20 crore.
Total Budget: Rs 803 crore
Income sources
VAT refund: Rs 410 crore
Property tax: Rs 50 crore
Electricity Octroi: Rs 36 crore
Operation and Maintenance: Rs 40 crore
Excise Duty: Rs 24 crore
UDCO loan: Rs 105 crore
Miscellaneous: Rs 71.25 crore
Others: Rs 75 crore
Expenditure:
New and Old roads: Rs 75.5 crore
New and Old Bridge: Rs 17 crore
Streetlight and Maintenance: Rs 8.5 crore
New Parks and maintenance: Rs 7 crore.
Slums: Rs 8.5 crore
MC offices renovation: Rs 50 crore
Electricity Bills: Rs 45 crore
Loan repayment: Rs 90 crore
Solid waste Management: Rs 15 crore
New Machinery: Rs 5 crore
Land Acquisition: Rs 2 crore
Computerization: Rs 1.1 crore
src:timesofindia