With the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) grappling with a severe financial crunch forcing it to halt all development-related works across the city since May this year, Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has called a meeting of senior officials from the Chandigarh administration and the civic body on October 24 to discuss the budgetary concerns.
The meeting comes in response to city mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor’s repeated requests to the Chandigarh administration to release a special grant in aid of ₹200 crore to resume the pending development-related works. UT adviser Rajeev Verma, secretary, local bodies department, Mandeep Brar, new municipal commissioner Amit Kumar, municipal joint commissioner Gurinder Singh Sodhi and mayor Dhalor are expected to join the meeting.
For the past two months, the mayor has been seeking an additional grant claiming that in the last 10 years, the expenditure of the MC has increased by 121% against a corresponding increase in grant-in-aid to the tune of 70%. Further, no revenue generating departments have been transferred to the civic body. Furthermore, with the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission, the wages of the contractual and daily wage staff have also enhanced, he claimed.
“Moreover, the DC rates in Chandigarh have also been revised. The MC has a limited scope to impose new taxes, which will ultimately result in enhanced burden on the public. The Chandigarh administration has earmarked ₹560 crore as grant-in-aid against the demand of ₹1,651.75 crore for the current financial year. In these circumstances, the development works are adversely affected as a major portion of the funds are spent on recurring expenditure. The corporation has committed liabilities of approximately ₹70 crore per month,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Moreover, the DC rates in Chandigarh have also been revised. The MC has a limited scope to impose new taxes, which will ultimately result in enhanced burden on the public. The Chandigarh administration has earmarked ₹560 crore as grant-in-aid against the demand of ₹1,651.75 crore for the current financial year. In these circumstances, the development works are adversely affected as a major portion of the funds are spent on recurring expenditure. The corporation has committed liabilities of approximately ₹70 crore per month,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}For the MC, the financial crisis is so serious that the MC has even put the already long-pending road carpeting work on hold. The civic body maintains 2,000 km roads throughout Chandigarh, of which it had planned to repair 270 km of roads this fiscal at a cost of ₹54 crore. But with empty coffers, the road recarpeting work is on hold despite the onset of ideal weather conditions.
“The MC is facing a gap of at least ₹200 crore between this fiscal year’s revenue and expenditure estimates and with this situation, we will not be able to even give salaries to the staff in coming months,” said an MC official.
Special House meeting today
On Monday evening, mayor Dhalor called a special house meeting of the MC for Tuesday to discuss the financial issues.
In a heated session during the last MC House meeting on September 26, BJP councillors had raised concerns over stalled developmental works in the city. Lashing out at the AAP-Congress alliance, BJP councillor Maheshinder Singh Sidhu had said the MC was about to face a deficit of ₹125 crore this fiscal. The opposition had suggested the mayor to hold a special all-party meeting to strategise solutions for the fiscal turmoil.
AAP’s freebies also on hold
Amid the tough economic times for the MC, the ruling AAP-Congress’s proposal to provide 20,000 litres of free water monthly to each household is also on hold. The giveaways for free water and free parking were originally part of AAP’s 2021 manifesto, but on June 14, the then UT administrator rejected the MC House’s free water resolution, citing that it was not financially viable.
However, on July 9, the House had resolved to push forward with its previously approved agendas of 20,000 litres of free water after MP Manish Tewari, backed by councillors, termed then UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit’s rejection “illegal”. However, no reply came from the administration after that.
As per MC officials, 20,000 litres of free water to each household every month will result in loss of ₹20 crore annually.