MC passes Rs1,072.98 crore Budget amid Cong boycott

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 12

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation today passed the Budget of Rs 1,072.98 crore amid a boycott by the opposition Congress, which termed the Budget, presented by Mayor Arun Sood, “unrealistic”.

In his speech, the Mayor said, “The Budget for 2016-17 is realistic and people-friendly. Since our endeavour is to reach out to the public, for the first time, suggestions were sought from people while preparing the Budget.”

The MC approved Rs 572.40 crore under the Plan head and Rs 500.58 crore under the Non-Plan head for the next fiscal.

The Plan head funds will be used to carry out development works in the city while the Non-Plan funds will go towards the committed expenditure on salaries and other recurring expenses borne by the MC.

Congress councillor Subhash Chawla said the Budget presented by the Mayor was a copy of the past 10 years’ budgets and there was nothing new in it.

He said the MC’s anticipated income was around Rs 158 crore for the next fiscal whereas the expenditure under the Plan head would be Rs 572 crore. He sought to know from where the MC would get the funds to fill this gap as the UT was likely to release only Rs 150 crore under the Plan head and the MC would still require more than Rs 250 crore to meet the expenditure.

Similarly, another Congress councillor, Pardeep Chhabra, said there was no mention of budget allocation for the smart city project. He also objected to the Mayor’s proposal to impose entry tax on outstation commercial vehicles.

During the discussion, heated arguments were exchanged between Senior Deputy Mayor Davesh Moudgil and Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra. 

Foreign delegates witness proceedings 

A delegation of 28 persons from 16 countries witnessed the General House proceedings and the Budget session of the MC. The tour of these people was organised by the Union Government while CRIID was facilitating them in Chandigarh.  During heated arguments between councillors, these delegates made videos and clicked photos. Jackson, a delegate from the Republic of Kenya, said, “House proceedings are similar all countries. Such noisy scenes during House meetings are common in our country too”. 

Welfare fund

The MC created a welfare fund for councillors and a sum of Rs 50 lakh was kept in the fund. Nominated councillor Shagufta Praveen raised the issue that one of their colleagues, SAD councillor Malkiat Singh, had died in 2014 during a study tour. In such cases, financial help was required for the family. 

Mayor terms Cong boycott drama 

Mayor Arun Sood termed the boycott of the MC Budget meeting by the Congress a drama. He said the Congress boycotted the meeting because it wanted its councillor Poonam Sharma to be allowed to speak before nominated councillor Shagufta Praveen. Nominated councillors also had an equal right to speak on the Budget, the Mayor said.