The Hindu 13.11.2014
EDMC prepares budget amid fund crunch
Amid a financial crunch, the East Delhi Municipal
Corporation (EDMC) is preparing its budget for the next financial year
while an analysis shows that only 38 per cent of this fiscal’s proposals
have been fruitful.
The Hindu
analysed 21 major proposals made by then Leader of the House B.B. Tyagi
on February 2 this year. Out of the budget promises, eight proposals
have not seen any progress, seven have been cleared, and six are under
process.
Mr. Tyagi, who is the Standing Committee
chairperson now, said on Tuesday that the corporation was indeed in a
dire financial state.
“We have been forced to take
loans to pay salaries of our employees and the Delhi government has not
given us any help. We don’t have the funds to undertake all the
development projects,” said the BJP leader.
Among the
projects that have not worked out are community-run kitchens on the
lines of the Amma canteens in Tamil Nadu, a nursing school in
Khichripur, and a media centre at the EDMC headquarters in Patparganj.
The
civic body had proposed an increase in the amount paid to widows for
their daughters’ wedding from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000, but this could
not be done for lack of funds.
Mr. Tyagi admitted
that many of the proposals he presented in February would not be
completed by March 31, 2015. He added that the civic body had the lowest
income among the three municipal corporations.
The
corporation is, however, working on building women’s toilets at busy
markets at a cost of Rs. 1 crore, developing a CNG-powered furnace at
the Karkardooma crematorium, and registering all banquet halls and
farmhouses to increase revenue. A total of 20 sports academies are being
developed across East Delhi and work on installing solar panels at
municipal primary schools is also on.
As envisaged in
the budget, the EDMC has started home delivery of birth and death
certificates through Speed Post at a cost of Rs. 60 lakh.
A special window in both zones of the EDMC has also been started to add names on birth certificates within half an hour.
