<p>Usually presented soon after the state budget, the BBMP’s annual budget has not been filed yet owing to disagreements between ministers and senior IAS officers on ward funds. </p>.<p>The state budget was presented on March 4. </p>.<p>The disagreements between MLAs and bureaucrats have come to the fore because the BBMP has been without an elected council since September 2020. </p>.<p>While MLAs want the BBMP to set aside Rs 2-3 crore per ward for “developmental” activities, bureaucrats want the allocation to be no more than Rs 90 lakh, citing fiscal discipline. </p>.<p>In the past, the BBMP had set aside special grants (Rs 2 crore for every ward falling in the core area and Rs 3 crore each for those in the outer areas) for the discretionary use of corporators.</p>.<p>In the absence of an elected body, the BBMP allocated only Rs 60 lakh per ward in 2021-2022 and has offered to increase it to Rs 90 lakh in the next fiscal year. </p>.<p>Ministers and MLAs now want a minimum allocation of Rs 2 crore per ward. Ministers are believed to have brushed aside concerns expressed by officials that such an allocation would have little scope for new and long-term projects. </p>.<p>With the disagreements still unresolved, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who holds the Bengaluru development portfolio, has called a meeting on Thursday morning. The date for presenting the budget may be fixed at the meeting. </p>.<p>Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department) and BBMP administrator Rakesh Singh confirmed as much. </p>.<p>Senior bureaucrats have been trying to reduce unnecessary expenditure ever since the BBMP was brought under a special law that does not allow the expenditure to exceed estimated revenues. </p>.<p>If the size of the BBMP’s budget is about Rs 9,000 crore, almost half of the money will go towards meeting overheads such as salaries and maintaining parks, streetlights and buildings. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, the BBMP has received 7,238 responses from citizens under the My City My Budget campaign — supported by NGO Janaagraha. A majority of the responses were about public toilets — building new ones or maintaining the existing ones. There were 2,188 responses about footpaths and 1,760 about parks. </p>
<p>Usually presented soon after the state budget, the BBMP’s annual budget has not been filed yet owing to disagreements between ministers and senior IAS officers on ward funds. </p>.<p>The state budget was presented on March 4. </p>.<p>The disagreements between MLAs and bureaucrats have come to the fore because the BBMP has been without an elected council since September 2020. </p>.<p>While MLAs want the BBMP to set aside Rs 2-3 crore per ward for “developmental” activities, bureaucrats want the allocation to be no more than Rs 90 lakh, citing fiscal discipline. </p>.<p>In the past, the BBMP had set aside special grants (Rs 2 crore for every ward falling in the core area and Rs 3 crore each for those in the outer areas) for the discretionary use of corporators.</p>.<p>In the absence of an elected body, the BBMP allocated only Rs 60 lakh per ward in 2021-2022 and has offered to increase it to Rs 90 lakh in the next fiscal year. </p>.<p>Ministers and MLAs now want a minimum allocation of Rs 2 crore per ward. Ministers are believed to have brushed aside concerns expressed by officials that such an allocation would have little scope for new and long-term projects. </p>.<p>With the disagreements still unresolved, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who holds the Bengaluru development portfolio, has called a meeting on Thursday morning. The date for presenting the budget may be fixed at the meeting. </p>.<p>Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department) and BBMP administrator Rakesh Singh confirmed as much. </p>.<p>Senior bureaucrats have been trying to reduce unnecessary expenditure ever since the BBMP was brought under a special law that does not allow the expenditure to exceed estimated revenues. </p>.<p>If the size of the BBMP’s budget is about Rs 9,000 crore, almost half of the money will go towards meeting overheads such as salaries and maintaining parks, streetlights and buildings. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, the BBMP has received 7,238 responses from citizens under the My City My Budget campaign — supported by NGO Janaagraha. A majority of the responses were about public toilets — building new ones or maintaining the existing ones. There were 2,188 responses about footpaths and 1,760 about parks. </p>
