Published On : Fri, Jun 27th, 2014

NMC Budget on July 1, development likely to get a major push with Gadkari as Minister

Advertisement

nmc-budget-nagpurNagpur News: The long-delayed Budget of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) will be presented on Tuesday (July 1). Even though the financial condition of NMC is very poor, the Budget is likely to be Rs 1600 crore.

The presentation of Budget in the month of March was put on hold following enforcement of Code of Conduct for Lok Sabha elections that were held in April. But the Code was in force till counting of votes on May 16. However, as soon as the Lok Sabha election process was completed, the Code of Conduct was again enforced for Nagpur Division Graduates Constituency poll. The poll process was completed on June 24 with voting being held on June 20. Moreover, Mayor Anil Sole was himself a candidate in the poll and ultimately emerged winner, too. All these poll processes further delayed the presentation of NMC Budget. Now, the Code of Conduct is coming to an end on Saturday and thus the way for presentation of the Budget has been cleared. A special meeting of NMC has been called on July 1 wherein the Budget will be presented by the Standing Committee Chairman Balya Borkar.

The enforcement of Local Body Tax has left the economy of NMC in tatters. Even salaries of employees are not being paid on time. However, the NMC could hope for “good days” with Nitin Gadkari as Minister at Centre, ruled by BJP. Expectations of receiving huge funds for development of Nagpur are high and therefore many big projects are likely to be included in the Budget.

Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Surface Transport, Highways and Shipping, held a meeting of top NMC and NIT officials 15 days ago. Gadkari directed the officials to immediately submit proposals of development projects meant for Nagpur. Some populist measures are on the anvil as the Assembly elections in Maharashtra likely to be held within 3-4 months.