Tokenistic to realistic: BBMP budget gets mixed reactions

The BBMP budget has evoked a mixed response from politicians, resident welfare associations and civic activists, despite officials describing it as realistic.

The first budget after the BBMP Act, 2020, fell short of Rs 1,611.42 crore in its outlay compared to last year’s budget.

“The commissioner had earlier said the budget can’t exceed a particular amount, but now they’ve presented a huge outlay despite a Rs 3,000-crore debt,” said former mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun.

Former leader of the opposition in the BBMP council, Abdul Wajid, has slammed the budget for not allocating funds for people’s welfare. “How can we consider this citizen-centric when there’s nothing (in the budget) for citizens of Bengaluru,” he asked.

Also Read | BBMP presents Rs 9,287.81 crore Budget for Bengaluru

Citizens of Bengaluru co-founder Tara Krishnaswamy said the civic body “failed” to find out citizen’s requirements before allocating funds for the city’s development. “The BBMP was dependent on ward committees during the lockdown to tackle the pandemic,” she pointed out.

The allocation of Rs 1,600 crore for solid waste management is without specifics on where the money would be spent, said environmentalist Leo F Saldhana, from ESG.

“The allocation for pourakarmikas is tokenistic,” he said. “Why should they be incentivised to buy brooms and protective gear, and that too Rs 200 per month? Such proposals are against labour laws that put the onus on the employer to buy tools and protective equipment.”

Srinivas Alavilli, head of civic participation at Janaagraha, dubbed the budget realistic compared to the ones presented in previous years. “The new BBMP act introduced zonal councils and the budget allocations strengthens that system. Success depends on ward committees and zonal councils taking ownership,” Alavilli said, adding that the move to give a small share of property tax to ward committees is a small but a progressive step.

Sapna Karim, also from Janaagraha, stressed the need to progress on improving targets and efficiency in tax collection to move beyond the Rs 2,000 crore continued to be witnessed in the last three years.

Sathya Sankaran, from Citizens for Sustainability, said the BBMP did not make adequate provisions for cycle tracks in the city. “Flyovers and subways have separate allocations but footpaths, cycle tracks, bus stands or bus lanes have nothing. This shows where the priority for the state government and BBMP lies. In front of the BBMP office, they have built five lanes and completely blocked the footpath,” Sankaran added.

BBMP Budget: Key features

Policy decisions

* Proposal sent to state government to fill up 938 vacancies in various cadres in the BBMP through the KPSC.

* Family health insurance scheme for permanent and retired employees of the BBMP.

* No hike in property tax but focus on better enforcement; notices issued over underassessment of 78,000 properties.

* Property tax to be calculated under the capital value system this financial year.

* 1% of property tax revenue to be given to ward committees.

* Talks with market lessees to increase rent.

Miscellaneous

* 50% of beggary cess to be spent on night shelters.

* BBMP schools, colleges and in-school libraries to be developed through the library cess.

* 67 new public toilets to be built; existing toilets to be maintained well.

* Each pourakarmika to get Rs 200 a month to buy gloves, brooms and boots.

* Rs 5,000 special grant to each pourakarmika.

Social welfare

* Total outlay will be Rs 546.89 cr.

* Details of all welfare schemes to be available on the BBMP website and BangaloreOne centres.

* Details of all beneficiaries to be published in the public domain.

* Rs 7.50 crore for education fee reimbursement.

* Children of pourakarmikas and Group 'D' workers to be reimbursed up to Rs 1 lakh of school fee.

* Rs 27 crore for medical expenses and hospitalisation of pourakarmikas, Group 'D' workers and citizens.

* Tailoring teaching centres to be handed over to certified training bodies.

* Rs 38.5 cr for the differently-abled.

* Rs 20 lakh for each ward committee to improve 5 km of footpaths.

Education

* Total allocation will be Rs 84 crore, in addition to Rs 33 crore in government grants.

* Incentives for students of BBMP schools who score more than 85% marks.

* Rs 2 lakh to teams of class teachers when 60% of students score 85% marks.

Health

* Rs 337 crore for Covid expenses.

* Partnership with medical colleges for roping in specialist doctors.

* Rs 5 cr for controlling the stray dog menace.

Ecology and environment

* Rs 214 crore for maintenance of 1,200 parks.

* Rs 1-lakh prize per zone for best rooftop/household garden.

* Rs 279 crore for air quality management.

* Central Control and Command Centre to be set up for monitoring air quality.

* Rs 39 crore for forestry.

Lakes and stormwater drains

* Rs 175 crore for the Koramangala waterway project

* Rs 60 crore for desilting and maintenance of SWDs.

* Rs 31 crore for lake maintenance.

* Lake adoption scheme to encourage corporate investment.

Other notable projects

* Rs 10 crore for developing the BBMP council hall with a capacity of 243 members.

* Rs 21.75 crore for cultural activities.