Development now comes with a price tag

For the first time the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has introduced a ceiling on the amount of money that can be spent by corporators for welfare and development work in 24 wards across Mumbai A circular regarding the same was issued by the BMC on April 30 the same day when former municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar retired to all the wards Sunday Mid Day has a copy of the circular However the move hasnrsquot gone down well with corporators who believe that the money allocated isnrsquot sufficient and should be increased According to the circularu00a0Rs 312 crore has been allocated for the civil work contract CWC for 201213 which includes Rs 136 crore of corporators fund Pic Bipin Kokate Pravin Chheda a senior corporator from Congress said ldquoThis is the first time that a ceiling has been introduced for welfare work in wards when the budget is yet to be cleared in the civic general body meetingrdquo He added that he would raise the issue in the meeting which will be held in the second week of June Dilip Lande Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader reiterated the same sentiment He said ldquoThe civic body is not a profitmaking company When citizens pay tax they expect better services The BMC has to do its duty towards societyrdquo However a senior civic official on condition of anonymity said that corporators are jumping the gun too soon ldquoThey have the right to suggest amendments in the budget when it is tabled at the general body meetingrdquo The circular shows how much money can be spent on slum improvement storm water drains solid waste management systems and welfare work in underdeveloped areas like Gaothans Koliwada and Adivasi Pada tribal areas It further said that all ward assistant commissioners should personally see that only those provisions as mentioned in the circular are utilised for carrying out the minor repair works through CWC No provision other than the ones stated in the circular should be made without seeking the approval of the municipal commissioner and additional commissioner Rajiv Jalota additional municipal commissioner who is one of the senior signatory authorities on the circular justified the move ldquoWe are working as per the law There is nothing illegal Until the budget is passed councillors have to follow the circularrdquo One might think that the BMC authorities have resorted to this measure since the civic body faced a financial crunch two years ago But statistics prove otherwise The BMC presented a Rs 26581crore budget this year which is more than 26 per cent of what was tabled last year It proposed a hike in water and sewage charges development charges license fee and the introduction of a new fire tax Then municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar had submitted the budget to the civic standing committee in March The standing committee cleared the budget 10 days ago while it will be discussed in the general body meeting in June The BMC expects to earn Rs 6100 crore from octroi which was Rs 5800 crore last year and Rs 4313 crore from property tax as compared to Rs 3962 crore last year Numbers Total number of corporators 227 Budget allocation foru00a0Passage and pavement Rs 40 crore Public toilets Rs 58 crore Storm water drains Rs 937 crore Solid Waste Management Rs 241 crore Market Rs 1 crore Health Rs 111 crore Corporatorspeak Vinod Shelar BJP Malad E PNorth Ward 41 rdquoThere should be no cap on funds for welfare work Last year too the fund allocation was low As a result we had a backlog that has to be finished this yearrdquo Rais Shaikh Samajwadi Party MEast Govandi Ward 132 rdquoAs compared to other developed areas in the city there is a lot of welfare work to be done in the slum area that I represent Hence the upper cap that we have been allotted is not enough rdquo Geeta Gawli Akhil Bhartiya Sena E Ward Saat Rasta rdquoThere should be no ceiling on funds Better funding means better welfare activitiesrdquou00a0u00a0