E-Paper
No funds for development projects as Bathinda MC passes ₹162-cr budget
Bathinda mayor Renu Goyal tabled the budget for the second consecutive term that was passed without discussion. Of the total budget, the MC will allocate 57% or ₹95 crore on salaries and pension
BATHINDA: The Bathinda municipal corporation passed ₹162 crore budget for 2022-23 on Thursday without any financial allocation for development projects for the city.
Of the total 50-member House, 39 councillors attended the meeting. One seat is lying vacant after Jagroop Singh Gill of the AAP quit on being elected to the state assembly from Bathinda Urban. The MLA attended the inaugural session of the budget meeting as an ex-officio member.
Mayor Renu Goyal tabled the budget for the second consecutive term that was passed without discussion. Of the total budget, the MC will allocate 57% or ₹95 crore on salaries and pension.
The local body is eyeing to get ₹103 crore from the municipal fund and another ₹11 crore as property and house tax.
In 2021-22, the corporation generated ₹36 lakh from the collection of municipal waste whereas, in the 2022-23, it has set a target to collect ₹1 crore.
Addressing the house, MLA Gill said he would ensure that the Congress-majority MC gets the full support of the AAP government for inclusive development of the city.
He pointed out that a long-pending recovery of ₹65 crore from the Bathinda Improvement Trust failed to find any reference in the budget.
“In 2010, land of a hotel near Rose Garden in the city was sold to the Trust of ₹65 crore. The MC should have staked claim to get the pending money with interest for the last 12 years,” said Gill, who remained councillor for record six terms.
