Pune civic chief to introduce five year plan model for city’s development

To avoid diversion of funds, Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar has decided to introduce five year plans for every department for holistic development of the city

PUNE: To avoid diversion of funds, Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar has decided to introduce five year plans for every department for holistic development of the city. He has decided to prepare an outcome budget for the upcoming 2022-23 annual budget. Kumar acknowledged that the diversion of funds has affected development of the city by creating liabilities and putting pressure on the upcoming annual budget.

To avoid diversion of funds, Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar (in pic) has decided to introduce five year plans for every department for holistic development of the city. (HT FILE)

The commissioner’s move is inspired by the launch of India’s first five year plan in 1951, which mainly focused on the development of the primary sector. Kumar has prepared a roadmap for the budget, introducing the concept of five year plans for each department. He has issued an order to this effect and given detailed instructions to all departments. He has directed that provision be made for committee work (mentioned in last year’s budget) in next year’s budget. For the outcome budget, each department head will set key measurement (quantitative and qualitative) indicators and prepare a presentation.

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials said that a majority of funds for big projects are carried forward or diverted into non-priority works owing to lack of land for big projects. Therefore, the commissioner has instructed all department heads to include environment assessment and PMC-acquired land points before introducing and allocating funds for development projects.

Additional municipal commissioner Kunal Khemnar said, “The commissioner has introduced a new concept in next year’s budget preparation. It will help the development of the city in a planned manner. Plan and non-plan work will give an exact idea of financial provision for particular works or development projects. It will put brakes on the practice of diversion of funds into non-plan development works.”