Cycle track around the boundary wall of Chandigarh Golf Club on Sunday. (Express photo)
CITING “POOR financial management” by the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh Administration is gradually taking over MC’s projects, one after the other. Consequently, the grant-in-aid that MC receives from UT continues to witness an annual reduction. While the Administration accused MC of not being able to adequately use funds available, the civic body has been blaming the former for its ongoing financial crisis.
Although to pacify the agitated MC councillors, the UT Administration released Rs 50 crore for road repair, it failed to cut ice as the former have decided to raise this issue of non-release of adequate grant at the forthcoming House meet in the last week of this month.
Beginning last year, the UT Administration took over the construction of cycle tracks across the city which was earlier supposed to be done by the MC. Subsequently, the construction of six new community centres in sectors 20, 21, 20, 35, 38 and Ram Darbar was also taken over by the UT Administration leaving MC councillors fuming. Construction of these community centres is yet to begin.
BJP Councillor Arun Sood said, “Cycle tracks were to be constructed by us, but the UT engineering wing began laying the 170-kilometre stretch of tracks on their own. Then when we asked for funds for construction and renovation of community centres, the Administration replied that they would do it for us and we will have to hand over the centres to the Administration. All this is nothing but the Administration’s attempt to take over the Municipal Corporation.” He told Chandigarh Newsline, “We are not seeking any favour. We are only demanding our 30 per cent share in the administration’s revenue that was recommended by the Fourth Finance Commission.”
The administration, however, contradicted MC’s claims. A senior officer, not willing to be named, said, “MC has had a poor financial management. Even their fixed deposits have eroded over the years. MC has a tendency to indulge in wasteful expenditures like constructing boundaries for green belts and parks, laying paver blocks on footpaths, etc. Generally, these expenditures are politically driven. On the other hand, the funds will remain unspent in areas like primary education, primary health, etc.”
Till 2013-14, MC was getting a constant grant-in-aid of over Rs 350 crore. But the Administration started imposing cuts 2014 onwards, citing MC’s poor management of funds. From 2014-15 till the ongoing financial year (2018-19), the grant-in-aid given by the UT Administration to the MC came down from Rs 327.99 crore to Rs 267.26 crore. It is the UT Administration that recommends fund allocation and sends it further to the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, for approval.
Chandigarh MC, which is in the midst of a financial crunch, is struggling to meet its committed liabilities, including salaries, electricity bills of offices and development works. From sanitation to water supply management, from internal roads to parking lots, sewerage system to development of green belts, it is the Chandigarh MC that manages it all.
Congress Councillor Devinder Singh Babla, however, blamed BJP for the continuous reduction of annual grant-in-aid. “MC does 60 per cent of the work in the city and even then we have to depend on the administration for grants. Ever since the BJP came to power, the grant-in-aid began to reduce.”
MP Kirron Kher told Chandigarh Newsline that she keeps asking the Centre for special grants for MC. “Since the officers in the administration keep changing frequently, I will have to find out the reasons why the grant-in-aid is getting reduced,” said Kher.