JOIN USThis year, Palike budget to focus on clearing loans, bills
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) - known for preparing ‘rosy but unrealistic budget’ - has adopted a few changes this year while preparing the budget.
In particular, the Finance department has instructed all the departments in the BBMP to submit their demands and previous accounts online before December 5.
Accordingly, the departments will have to fill the ‘budget modules’ online, which includes: the specific amount of work sanctioned in various wards, the number of work orders, the pending bills, the security deposit collected from the contractors who did not follow the regulations, and so on.
In the last five years, the Palike had attracted criticism for presenting a highly inflated budget and the realisation was always less than 50 per cent. Consequently, most of the BBMP projects remained incomplete.
Debt-ridden BBMP
Moreover, the debt burden of the BBMP has doubled from Rs 1314.12 crore in 2008-09. In addition, the Palike has also mortgaged many of its buildings to the financial institutions as security. The civic agency has pending bills of contractors totalling to a whopping Rs 2,500 crore.
A former commissioner said that several projects including the construction of flyovers and development of roads remained incomplete as the BBMP failed to collect enough resources due to deficit budget.
In 2002-03, the BBMP had passed a budget of Rs 935 crore. Along with the prefix ‘bruhat’ (massive), the Palike went on presenting deficit budget with an outlay of Rs 9,500 crore.
According to former BBMP administrator T M Vijaya Bhaskar, the Palike is able to generate a revenue of Rs 4,000 crore every year on its own. However, the budgetary estimates are far from reality. As a result, the Palike failed to meet the revenue collection target. It needs atleast two years to clear the debts and the pending bills.
Reform measures
Following the criticism over unrealistic budgets, the Palike was forced to adopt reforms to address the financial crisis. During his tenure as Palike administrator, Vijaya Bhaskar, brought down the number of bank accounts to 25 from 900.
Besides, the officers were strictly ordered to undertake quality check of the works before clearing the bills of the contractors. A Technical Vigilance Cell under Commissioner (TVCC) was formed to submit an inspection report before clearing the bills. The process was also made online.
A senior BBMP official said that this year’s budget will be aimed to complete the ongoing and stalled projects with focus on clearing debts and pending bills. The Palike also plans to increase the source of revenue, he said.