The continued uncertainty over municipal elections means the municipal commissioners' budget for 2023-24 may be the final one. In 2022-23 administrator and commissioner, Radhakrishnan B. had presented a budget of Rs 2,669.9 crore. In the last ten months of the financial year, the municipality has earned 75% of the target revenue of Rs 2,039.16 crore.
At the same time, Rs 500 crore revenue is expected in the remaining two months. It is hence being speculated that the commissioner may present a budget of around Rs 2,700 crore. How many cuts are made in the revised budget remains to be seen. The commissioner has indicated the budget may be presented in mid-March.
At present, the revenue and expenditure details are being collected at the departmental level. Several meetings with department heads have been held with the commissioner. Some officials of the finance department have been asked to finalize the budget. It will be a big deal if one or two of the suggestions made by the public are made part of the budget.
In the last 11 months, problems at the ward level have accumulated in the absence of elected Works like chamber and sewer line repairs, and road improvement is stalled due to a lack of special funds for corporators. Municipal officials do not respond to citizens' complaints.
The arbitrariness of assistant commissioners at the zone level has reached its peak. There is no solution to problems in some
However, in a discussion with journalists on Tuesday, the commissioner asserted he was fulfilling his responsibilities. People's problems are being solved. Ward-level problems are being resolved, he claimed.
It was Rs 2,392 Cr in 2021-22
In 2021-22 NMC’s revenue was Rs 2,392.62 crore. Due to this, the budget of the standing committee was revised to Rs 2,486.87 crore. Rs 309.77 crore was cut by the commissioner from a budget Of Rs 279664 crore. The Commissioner's modified budget was Rs 2,500 crore for 2020-21 and Rs 2,119 crore for 2019-20.