Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Budget for the year 2017-18 has still not been presented. The Budget is likely to be presented in July. Nothing surprising about it. But what is surprising is that development works are being carried out by ‘select’ Corporators by exerting pressure on officials of concerned departments without budgetary provisions, without financial approval. On the other hand, the reason behind the new Municipal Commissioner maintaining silence over “development works” is that he is a ‘new comer’ and lacked experience in handling a civic body. The ‘advantageous’ situation is for hardcore officials, office-bearers and Corporators.
Notably, 75 percent of Corporators have won for the first time. And they dreamed of becoming crorepati over the night. These 75 percent Corporators are jus two-month old but due to non-presentation of NMC’s Budget all the development works have come to a grinding halt, only on papers. Only construction of cement roads is being undertaken in the name of development. But slyly other works are also being carried out from the funds that have remained unspent from a particular head. After completion of these ‘development’ works, files of the concerned contractors would be prepared, approved and finally, payments would be made rather easily!
Old and new game:
It has been the tradition in the NMC that the new Chairman of the Standing Committee has to sanction funds to the files approved additionally by the previous Chairman. The previous Chairman at the end of his tenure goes on approving a slew of development works worth crores. Since the works are approved by the earlier Chairman, it becomes a sort of mandatory for the new incumbent to provide funds for the old files.
