Chandigarh MC budget okayed with only ₹5-crore hike from last year

With its annual expenditure pegged at ₹1,885.3 crore, MC is now staring at acute fund crunch; it is hoping to generate ₹633 crore from income heads compared to ₹530 crore last year

Punjab governor and UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday also approved the budget estimates of the Chandigarh municipal corporation for the financial year 2024-25, three months after it was passed by the MC House in a contentious budget meeting, with a grant-in-aid hike of only ₹5 crore as compared to last fiscal.

While approving the budget, Chandigarh administrator Banwarilal Purohit said, “MC erred in passing the budget in its meeting held on March 6. Though explanation was furnished by the municipal commissioner in this matter, the UT administration found the same to be contrary to the procedure required to be followed, as per the legal opinion of the senior standing counsel.” (HT Photo)

MC’s annual budget was marred with controversies this year after AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor tabled it directly in the MC’s general House, instead of discussing it first in the finance and contract committee (F&CC) of the civic body, raising strong opposition from BJP councillors. Following this, UT had passed an interim budget of ₹300 crore for MC for April, May and June.

Pinning its hopes on more grant-in-aid from the Centre and reimbursement of electricity duty from UT administration, the MC House had passed a ₹2,325-crore budget with approximately ₹1,131 deficit in the March 6 meeting.

The corporation had demanded ₹1,651.7 crore as grant-in-aid (GIA) for the fiscal, but after the Union government allocated only ₹560 crore in the interim budget, UT decided to give no extra grant to MC to meet the deficit. Last year, UT had approved ₹555 crore as GIA for MC.

With its annual expenditure pegged at ₹1,885.3 crore, MC is now staring at acute fund crunch. It is hoping to generate ₹633 crore from income heads compared to ₹530 crore last year.

As per records, the monthly committed liabilities of MC are around ₹70 crore, and with release of just interim budget, it was unable to spend on new projects or clear the pending bills. The key committed liabilities are the salaries, wages of the employees, pension benefits of the retired employees and other related office expenses.

MC erred in passing budget: Purohit

While approving the budget, Purohit said, “MC erred in passing the budget in its meeting held on March 6. Though explanation was furnished by the municipal commissioner in this matter, the UT administration found the same to be contrary to the procedure required to be followed, as per the legal opinion of the senior standing counsel.”

“Though the explanation submitted by the commissioner has been accepted as a one-time measure, directions were issued to MC to follow the prescribed procedures as per applicable provisions of the MC Act in future. Accordingly, the budget has been approved due to urgent and essential requirements for funds to MC,” Purohit said.