Standing committee okays Rs 45 lakh for athletic meet; activists call it another instance of donating from civic coffers 'in disregard of law'

At a time when Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal and his party, the NCP, are getting flak from activists as well as the civic administration for donating public money to cultural events, allegedly in disregard of the law, the standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has displayed its generous streak once again.

Led by the ruling alliance, of which the NCP is a part, the standing committee has approved Rs 45 lakh for the Asian Athletics Grand Prix to be held on June 1.

This has made civic activists and opposition members once again take up the issue of PMC making donations in violation of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (BPMC) Act. They plan to write to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to urge him to intervene.

Vijay Kumbhar said the PMC had violated the BPMC Act, which stipulates a civic body can not make a donation of more than Rs 3 lakh at one go. "These (donations) are a clear violation of Section 88 of the BPMC Act. Even earlier we had asked the Chief Minister to intervene as the PMC's donation spree is getting out of hand," said Kumbhar. "In the past also they have made donations that were completely illegal and a high-level inquiry should be conducted into these acts; we will demand this."

Deputy Commissioner K C Kaskar had made a similar remark on a donation approved by the PMC for the Baisakhi festival. Kaskar had said the PMC could give only Rs 3 lakh at one go to a charity organisation under Section 88 of the BPMC Act, and that in a year the total amount givenu00a0 could not cross Rs 30 lakh.

BJP corporator Anil Shirode said it was shocking the PMC was approving new donations even as previous instances of such charity were under a cloud. "The deputy commissioner has sent a letter to the organisations to whom donations were made in the past as they are yet to submit their audited accounts. Besides this, the Mayor is facing an inquiry for illegal donations made to celebrateu00a0 Baisakhi," said Shirode. "With no regard for rules, they have now done it again."

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Bhanudas Mane said organisers of cultural events that had received PMC donations had been sent letters of reprimand. "We have reminded them that the submission of their accounts is still due," said Mane.