- NMC Budget to be presented in the month of June
- LBT to be abolished from August 1, 2015
- New alternate source of revenue sources not known yet
- JNNURM Scheme lapses: Government’s role unclear on the approved projects
Nagpur: Last year, because of the Lok Sabha Elections, the then Chairman of Standing Committee Balya Borkar presented the NMC budget in the month of June. However, this year too, the present Chairman of Standing Committee Ramesh Singare forcing his decision to present the Budget in the month of June, without any valid reason makes no sense.
It is obvious that with the delay in presenting the budget, many developmental activities will also get stalled.
One major point of concern is that from August 1, 2015, the Local Body Taxes (LBT) is going to be abolished. However, no new alternate source of revenue appears is in the near future. This also means that the present Chairman of Standing Committee Ramesh Singare will face many problems in his functioning during his tenure. The situation will be a source of tension since Ramesh Singare is not known to have knowledge of budgeting. He is nothing better than a rubber stamp, who knows that his signature on papers will help him get his due share. His mentality is restricted to this type of working only. Unlike his predecessors like Sandeep Joshi and Avinash Thakre who displayed their skills and caliber in running the NMC with adroit finesse.
Last year, the then Chairman of Standing Committee Balya Borkar presented a NMC budget of Rs 1645 crores. However, this time round, the budget will be made under the guidance of Mayor Praveen Datke, Ruling Party Leader Dayashankar Tiwari, Senior Corporator Sunil Agrawal, and Expert in making budget Praful Farkase. All that present Chairman of Standing Committee Ramesh Singare will do is to present the budget in the meeting. No one knows if the budget is realistic or an enhanced budget compared to last year.
The Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, while presenting the budget, he proposed a revised budget of NMC amounting to Rs. 1294.67 crores. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) has since lapsed. However, the stand of the Central Government over the projects approved under this scheme is not clear.
With these above mentioned problems looming ahead, the present Chairman of Standing Committee Ramesh Singare will have to strive hard to create and enhance newer revenue sources. However, instead of the Chairman of Standing Committee Ramesh Singare striving hard to create newer revenue sources, it is the ruling party leaders who are leaving no stones unturned to enhance and finding out newer revenue sources. This could be the reason for the delay in presenting the budget.
From the last few years, the staff of NMC are said to be receiving their salaries after nearly 55 days. This is in turn affecting the day to day working of NMC. This may in-turn make his dream of becoming the Chairman a distant dream.
– RAJEEV RANJAN KUSHWAHA(rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com)
