E-Paper
Year ending soon, but Chandigarh councillors in no hurry to utilise ward funds
12 of 35 councillors in Chandigarh have not even spent ₹5 lakh out of the ₹80 lakh ward development fund, which will lapse after December 31
In three months, as the year comes to a close, the annual ward development fund (WDF) will also lapse. But call it ineptitude, negligence or sheer apathy, 12 of 35 elected councillors in the city have failed to utilise even ₹5 lakh out of the ₹60-lakh WDF allocated to them in 2022 so far.
Worst among them are the councillors of Ward 9 and 27 – Bimal Dubey and Gurbax Rawat – whose spending has not moved from zero even as the condition of their wards continue to deteriorate on all parameters.
According to MC’s accounts department, every year, each councillor gets ₹80 lakh under WDF that has to be spent before December 31.
Amid delay in utilisation of funds for civic development, residents’ complaints regarding ill-maintained parks, roads and street lights continue to pile on month after month.
In the 35-member MC House, 14 councillors each are from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), six from the Congress and one from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
But when it comes to not utilising the WDF timely, no single party takes the cake.
Among the 12 councillors who haven’t spent even ₹5 lakh out of their WDF, five are from the AAP, four from the BJP, two from the Congress and one from the SAD.
Even mayor Sarbjit Kaur, who was elected from Ward No. 6, has only used up ₹19.65 lakh so far, while deputy mayor Anup Gupta, the councillor from Ward No. 11, has ensured projects worth only ₹26.42 lakh.
Four councillors in ₹40-lakh club
On the contrary, at least four councillors have utilised over ₹40 lakh from the fund, becoming the highest spenders.
Two BJP councillors – Harpreet Kaur Babla from Ward No. 10 and Dalip Sharma from Ward No. 3, who is also the senior deputy mayor – lead the list with a spending of ₹53 lakh and ₹46 lakh, respectively. AAP’s Taruna Mehta, the councillor from Ward No. 18, has a development bill worth ₹41 lakh to show, while BJP’s Saurabh Joshi (Ward No. 12) is fourth with projects worth ₹40 lakh to his credit.
On her part, Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat said, “Tenders worth ₹71 lakh have been floated in my ward and most of the works have already been started. In fact, in four projects, MC is citing insufficient funds.”
Similarly, BJP councillor Bimal Dubey said tenders for several projects had been floated and work will start soon.
However, both had no reason for non-utilisation of funds for nine straight months until now.
Gurcharanjit Singh, Congress councillor from Ward No. 20, who only spent ₹1.29 lakh said, “Two tubewells have been proposed in Hallomajra and Behlana villages for ₹70 lakh. I have already asked the officials in writing to have them installed, following which my fund will get exhausted.”
SK Khosla, general secretary, MIG Houses, Sector 40-C, which falls in Rawat’s ward, said, “The roads are in a shambles, parks are poorly maintained and even the electricity junction boxes are lying open, posing danger to lives. If the councillor says the ward development fund has been utilised, why don’t we see any change on the ground?”
Hitting out against the councillors with low spending, Mukesh Rai, chairman of colony cell, Congress, Chandigarh, and resident of Ward No. 9, said the councillors had failed to take up residents’ issues with the officials concerned. “Then naturally, roads remain broken and water supply remains erratic. After monsoon, road carpeting work has started in some areas, but most roads in Ward No. 9 are still in poor shape,” he said.
