MCD budget session dates announced by municipal secretariat

Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti has proposed a budget worth ₹16,683 crore with a quarter of the allocations for the sanitation sector

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is expected to hold a special session between January 30 and February 7 to discuss the over ₹16,683 crore annual budget proposals for the civic body that were presented by the MCD commissioner on December 9, senior civic officials aware of the development said on Thursday.

The normal budget process has remained deviated from the conventional schedule for the last two years now. (HT Archive)

According to an order issued by the municipal secretariat, since the Standing Committee is yet to be constituted, the commissioner had presented the revised budget estimates for 2023-24 and budget estimates for 2024-25 directly om December last year. But no discussion could be held on the proposals since several key panels of the civic body, including the powerful Standing Committee that controls the purse strings of MCD, are yet to take shape.

Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti has proposed a budget worth ₹16,683 crore with a quarter of the allocations for the sanitation sector.

According to the schedule of the session, leader of the opposition from BJP Raja Iqbal Singh would initiate the discussion on these proposals on January 30 at 2pm. It will be followed by a general discussion for over three days between February 5-7. After the general discussion is over, the budget estimates will be adopted on Thursday February 8, according to the order by the Municipal secretary. The order said that the participants and duration of their speeches will be determined by the mayor Shelly Oberoi.

The MCD is yet to constitute several key panels which are crucial for civic governance due to the ongoing conflict between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Even though the MCD house has elected the first six members of the Standing Committee, the legal challenge to the appointment of 10 aldermen by the lieutenant governor has held up the formation of ward committees -- the local governance panels in which the aldermen has voting powers -- and which will elect the remaining 12 Standing Committee members.

An official explained that the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act mandates that the budget process should be completed before February 15. “Section 109 of the DMC act and Delhi Municipal Corporation budget estimate regulations 1958 lay down the schedule for presentation and adoption of budget estimates for the ensuing year. The corporation is required to determine the rates of municipal taxes and cesses levied in next financial year,” official said.

The normal budget process has remained deviated from the conventional schedule for the last two years now. The three municipal corporations in Delhi were unified in May 2022 as the AAP and the BJP have continued fighting over several issues such as the election of the mayor and the nomination of the aldermen. “Last year the schedule of taxes was cleared by the Special officer as the mayor had not been elected and the rest of the budget was later passed in March,” a civic official said.

The budget process usually starts with commissioner presenting the budget proposals before the standing committee in first week of December, the proposals go through special and wards committees of each zone and finally house of councillors clears the final budget. This year the Delhi municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti in December presented before a special meeting of house of councilors the municipal budget proposals worth ₹16,683 crores for financial year 2024-25 with a quarter of allocation for the sanitation sector. Bharti has proposed to keep the the existing property tax structure unchanged but the budget document reiterates the intent to impose a “professional tax” on trades/professions subject to approval from the city government. Such proposals to impose new taxes in the past years have not been cleared by the elected wing.