BMC calls for people’s participation in budget

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has called for people’s participation in formulating its budget for 2023-24

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has called for people’s participation in formulating its budget for 2023-24. The civic body made this move for the first time, in the absence of is deliberative wing comprising corporators who acted on behalf of the electorate.

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This will empower ordinary citizens to lend their voice on how BMC must spend its money, especially in their neighbourhoods.

“Every Mumbaikar deserves to know how their money is being spent and must therefore actively question BMC for effective governance, better policies and facilities,” said a civic activist.

Welcoming the move, former leader of the opposition from Congress, Ravi Raja, said, “We had written to the BMC seeking people’s participation in projects undertaken. NGOs, ex-corporators and Advanced Locality Management (ALMs) can also participate so that people’s voice can be heard.”

After BMC’s deliberative wing was dissolved on March 8, 2022, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has presided as its administrator. BMC is touted to be Asia’s biggest and richest corporations. It had revealed a ₹45,949 crore budget for FY 2022-23.

In the process of preparing budget estimates for the financial year 2023-24 BMC is compiling its income and expenditure, which will be presented before February 5, 2023.