Nagpur: The Chairman of Standing Committee Sudhir (Bandu) Raut on Sunday (March 27) presented the Rs 2048 crore tax-free, development-oriented and please-all Budget of poll-bound Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for the financial year 2016-17. It is for the first time in the history of NMC the Budget was presented on a Sunday in a Special General Body Meeting of the local body.
The discussion on the Budget will be held on March 30. With the revenue pegged at Rs 2048.63 crore plus opening balance of Rs 7.50 crore the local body will have surplus of Rs 14.52 lakh after the proposed expenditure of Rs 2047.98 crore in the financial year.
The main focus of entire exercise of Budget ostensibly seems to be on the next year’s election the NMC will have to face and the ruling BJP was found leaving no stone unturned to regain the power.
The expected revenue in the Rs 2048 crore Budget is from following sources:
- Rs 735 crore including Rs 600 crore special assistance from State Government in lieu of LBT, Rs 75 crore from pending recovery of LBT and Rs 60 crore on account of 1 percent Stamp Duty being accumulated with State Government. The LBT was scrapped from August 1, 2015 for those traders having less than Rs 50 crore annual turnover.
- Rs 306.45 crore from Property Tax even though the levy has not been hiked for the year.
- Rs 150 crore towards water tax.
- Rs 7.55 crore from Market Department.
- Rs 10 crore on account of advertisements and licence fees.
- Rs 101.85 crore from Town Planning Department.
- Rs 100 crore loan in the form of capital fund.
- Rs 333.62 crore grants from State Government including Rs 160.07 crore as revenue grant and Rs 173.55 crore capital grant.
- Rs 5 crore from other sources such as surcharge on cable operators.
The development works and other facilities to be provided include:
- One-window system for public works and citizen-oriented facilities.
- Rs 40 crore for road developent and repairs under Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Road Development Scheme Phase-1.
- Rs 225 crore for cement concrete roads under Integrated Road Improvement Project (IRIP) Phase-2
- Rs 100 crore NMC’s share towards remaining road development under IRIP Phase-3.
- Rs 15 crore for DP Roads in various placers
- Rs 125.25 crore for tarring of roads, maintenance and repairs.
- Rs 4 crore for setting up of new batch mix plant for undertaking rapairs and maintenance of roads.
- Rejuvenation of lakes and rivers.
- Construction of bridges over rivers, other bridges and fly-overs.
- Development works in rural areas that have been included in the NMC limits.
- Erection of statues of prominent personalities.
- Rs 5 crore for construction of new Town Hall beside the present Raje Raghujirao Bhonsale Nagar Bhavan in Mahal.
- “E” Rikshaw Scheme for poor and disabled persons.
- Development of crematoriums and kabrastans.
- Construction of mutton market.
- Rs 25 crore for development works in 572 and 1900 layout scheme.
- Rs 2 crore for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial to mark 125th birth anniversary of iconic Dalit leader.
- Rs 3.50 crore sports development activities.
- Implementation of ‘My City, Clean City, My Responsiblity.
- Replacing of old streetlights with LED lights. Development of city as Model Solar City.
- Upgradation of transport system.
- Focus on health services, cleanliness and solid waste management in a better way.
- Rs 35 crore for 10 housing projects under Slums Rehabilitation Authority (SRA).
- A special focus is on education department as was reported by Nagpur Today a couple of days back.
- Fire and Emergency Service Department set to be made state-of-the-art to tackle challenges of all sorts.
- Construction of modern shopping complexes and market complexes at various places.
- The city of Nagpur to be developed as “Tourism City Nagpur City.” A record breaking Vikrami Zenda will be unfurled by erecting the tallest flag post.
- All necessary measures are being initiated to turn the city a “Smart City” having smart living, smart environment, smart mobility, and smart governance as basic aspects. City Surveillance/CCTV Project soon to be started with the help of Home and IT Department.
- Under Prime Minister’s “Housing For All 2022” scheme, a mega demand survey is being undertaken from February 22 to April 22, 2016.
These are among a slew of development works that are being undertaken or proposed in the 2016-17 Budget.
Delivering his Budget speech, the Chairman of Standing Committee Sudhir Raut said that the focus has been put on welfare of students and development of tourism apart from JNNURM (Now AMRUT) projects.
Raut profusely thanked BJP leadership, specifically the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, for showing trust on him and bestowing the post of Chairman of Standing Committee. “I have been given the responsibility of the post when the city will be celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of iconic Dalit leader Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Parampujya Mahatma Jyotiba Fule. I am feeling extremely happy to present the Budget in such excited environment. I home to meet aspirations of all the sections of people with the coordination and cooperation of ruling as well as opposition parties and citizens of this great city at large,” said Raut.
– RAJEEV RANJAN KUSHWAHA ( rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com )
