Pune civic chief bars diversion of funds for development work

Pune: To ensure implementation of maximum developmental work marked in the annual budget of 2019-20, the Pune municipal commissioner has decided to stop diversion of funds, which is being done at the beginning and end of the financial year. Stating that this order is infringement of the rights of local representatives, the corporators have demanded to scrap it. 

PMC officials, on condition of anonymity, said each year more than Rs 100 crore is diverted to other heads. “Corporators pressurise the administration to approve diversion of funds to get their priority works done. It hampers financial planning and development work,” they said.

In the recent meeting of all PMC department heads, Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao instructed them to avoid diversion of budgetary funds to other works which corporators suggest.

He issued guidelines to not allow any budgetary allocation for other development works. He also directed them to seek his prior permissionformaking provision for other development works. He said there is a trend in diverting funds in the first three months from April to June after approval of annual budget and in the last three months from January to March, the closing of the financial year. 

The civic chief Saurabh Rao said, “The sudden diversion of funds creates problems in implementing the budget and it delays the process of issuance of work order of development work.”

However, corporators objected to Rao’s order. 

Standing Committee Chairman Sunil Kamble said, “We will ask the commissioner to withdraw the order as it is infringement of corporators’ and Standing Committee’s rights.”

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dilip Barate said, “The commissioner needs to reconsider his order. It is an invasion of our rights.”