Trifurcation pangs: MCD busy preparing three separate budgets
With the MCD headed for a split, work on preparation of three separate budgets has started in the civic body.
With the MCD headed for a split, work on preparation of three separate budgets has started in the civic body.
According to senior officials, the budget will be distributed depending on wards, type of area — whether commercial or residential — and population density. Revenue like property tax will, however, be distributed as per earnings of the respective corporations.
The MCD will be split into North Delhi, East Delhi and South Delhi corporations in April and the budgets will have to be finalised on the first day the general house of the corporations meets.
According to MCD's financial advisor-cum-charted accountant Mayank Sharma, the department is calculating the budget in a scientific manner, considering every element of expenditure and revenue.
"It is a vast exercise and for distribution of assets and revenue, all elements of the area type and population are being taken into consideration," Sharma said.
Through Census data, the MCD has discovered that Sadar Paharganj zone has the highest population density at 66,000 persons per square kilometers.
Earlier in February, secretary, urban development ministry of Delhi government, RK Srivastava had asked the MCD to prepare the budget for three municipal corporations for the financial year 2012-13.
Criticism
Critics of the split say that rural areas and unauthorised colonies generate low property tax and so will lose out on development. But MCD officials have refuted such claims. "The revenues are high. They will appear lowly when you compare them to the revenues collected from commercial areas," said an official.