Status: Not Approved
MSID:: 128754741 413 | The opposition said many proposals in the budget for the next fiscal were announced in the previous budgets. “The budget shows that the UDF council is moving to sabotage the progress made in the waste management measures introduced in Brahmapuram by again asking the NIT Kozhikode, which earlier submitted a report on the legacy waste piled up there, to do the same work again.
V A Sreejith, opposition councillor, poo-poohed the proposal for mosquito eradication. Regarding mosquito issues, they propose GPS mapping and drone monitoring to identify breeding grounds. It is a farce. Will they fly a drone all over the city for that purpose?” asked Sreejith.
The discussion on the budget proposal will be held on Thursday, and the reply will be given on Friday.
It also put forward a development policy for the city, eyeing developments over the next 25 years. However, the ruling party denied it. Besides proposing steps for raising capital by issuing bonds, the budget proposed the constitution of a Greater Kochi development council comprising chairpersons in nearby municipalities, Presidents and members in adjacent panchayats.
Joy presented the budget amid sloganeering and a sit-in protest by opposition councillors over an alleged leak of budget details. The Opposition filed a complaint with the corporation secretary in the morning, alleging a leak and demanding that the budget presentation be postponed.
“Kochi corporation is deprived of Rs 124 cr as no central grant is allowed under the 16th finance commission. Because no central grant was allowed for the corporation under the 16th finance commission report, deputy Mayor and finance standing committee chairman Deepak Joy, who presented the budget, said the decline in surplus was.
But in the budget we proposed raising capital for various projects by issuing bonds,” he said. That is why we estimated the decline in surplus for the next fiscal.
Pingback: 24_Koc_SMTC_Indira canteen