Corporators’ wait to add budget proposals still on

Pimpri Chinchwad: The civic body’s general body meeting was postponed on Saturday for the third consecutive time.
This time, the BJP’s dilemma over including supplementary proposals in the 2018-19 civic budget was the reason.

On Saturday, Pimpri Chinchwad mayor Nitin Kalje’s birthday was celebrated a day in advance, after which the meeting was adjourned to condole the deaths of former corporator Kamrunissa Khan, actress Shammi and others.

Many corporators, including those from the BJP, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and others, were left holding the supplementary proposals. Most of these proposals were later submitted at the office of the ruling party leader, Eknath Pawar.

“We will accept supplementary proposals from all corporators on March 20 during the next general body meeting,” Pawar said.

Last month, on February 15, municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar had presented the draft budget comprising an outlay of Rs5,235 crore, including funds for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and other projects, to the standing committee.

As the tenure of standing committee chairperson Seema Savale was to end on February 28, the draft budget was approved the same day. Even supplementary proposals to the tune of Rs27 crore were greenlit, increasing the total outlay to Rs5,262 crore.

A special meeting of the civic general body was convened on February 26, but was adjourned till March 9 without discussing or approving the budget.

While preparing the draft budget, Hardikar had urged corporators to give him a list of ward-wise priority projects to be implemented this new fiscal. He had also directed civic officials to decide which ongoing projects need provisions in the budget and which new projects can be started on a priority basis in the new fiscal, so as to make the provisions for them.

If the supplementary proposals are included in the draft budget, then provisions will have to be made, for which funds will need to be diverted. “They (the proposals) will be scrutinized and only those that can be implemented will be approved for inclusion in the annual budget,” Pawar said.