MCG clears budget, ‘inflated’ figures draw sharp reactions

GURUGRAM: MCG on Saturday passed a surplus budget for fiscal year 2018-19 with focus on infrastructure, health and education, even as a number of councillors termed receipt and expenditure estimates inflated.
Of the total outlay of Rs 1,884 crore, Rs 1,230 crore will be spent on ‘environmental works’, which include construction of roads, bridges, drains, health and sports facilities. Rs 400 crore has been earmarked for roads and bridges, Rs 50 crore for waste management, Rs 225 crore for development and maintenance of infrastructure and assets, including flyovers, water supply pipelines and storm water drains.

Also, the budget has projected a total income of Rs 2,290 crore with a major portion coming through property tax (Rs 342 crore) and stamp duty (Rs 1,050 crore).

In the day, mediapersons were not allowed inside the hall, where the councillors and other civic officials deliberated on the budget, triggering a controversy. While MCG PRO SS Rohilla cited ‘lack of enough space’, mayor Madhu Azad said there was “no instruction to evict the scribes”. “The budget belongs to the residents and they have the right to know what is happening in these discussions,” she said later.

On the budget, the mayor said this budget would focus on health and education. A provision had been included in the budget for the construction of a medical college (Rs 100 crore) in Sector 102 and setting up of dispensaries in all civic wards.

Commissioner Yashpal Yadav said provisions had been made for setting up Nagrik Suvidha Kendra (community centre) in every ward and to make WiFi available to residents, apart from emphasising on infrastructure.

However, some councillors questioned the method of calculation, accusing the corporation of presenting inflated receipt and expenditure figures.

Councillor RS Rathee claimed property and fire tax collections could not be calculated based on the last financial year’s numbers, which included dues (of the previous years) recovered during 2017-18.

Similarly, he questioned the rationale behind increasing the projected collections through ads to Rs 100 crore in the budget, from Rs 15 crore in 2017-18. “Even for the stamp duty collections, the break-up suggests a total of Rs 1,030 crore was received from 2006 to 2017 while the collection was Rs 845 crore in the last fiscal which included arrears too. And this year’s budget estimate shows receipts of Rs 1,050 crore through stamp duties. This is inflated,” he alleged.

The estimated expenditures on environmental work (Rs 1,230 crore) have too drawn objections as “most of the works are to be carried out by GMDA”, they claimed.

Another councillor Virender Yadav said, “It appears to be a bullish budget but the figures look huge and attaining them will be a challenge. However, officials are confident. The budget should have allocated more money for sanitation.”