Even as the budgetary outlay of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for 2011-12 increased to Rs. 9,380 crore, a hike of Rs. 184 crore over the earlier proposal, no one in the civic authority, including Ruling Party leaders know where the excess money is coming from. Despite this flaw and budget being criticised as ‘un-implementable', it was passed on Saturday amidst protest by the Opposition.
Without providing proper figures for this budget jugglery, Ruling Party Leader B.R. Nanjundappa on Saturday said: “We have cut down on unnecessary expenditure and reduced funds to some MLAs. This amount has been adjusted and the outlay has been increased.”
Cuts and additions
He argued that funds to Malleswaram Assembly Constituency, Padmanabhanagar Assembly Constituency (represented by district in-charge Minister R. Ashok) and Jayanagar Assembly Constituency were reduced to Rs. 90 crore and funds totalling Rs. 26 crore was granted to some Assembly constituencies represented by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular).
While the leaders of Opposition parties were engrossed in the final resolutions, checking the increase in grants for wards, Mayor Sharadamma, in a hurry, announced that the budget had been passed, attracting Opposition members to the well.
They raised slogans against the Ruling Party.
Objections raised
During discussions that lasted four days, most Opposition councillors had raised objections claiming that the budget was “unrealistic and bogus”. G. Manjunath Raju, chairperson of the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance, responded to several questions raised in just four minutes.
“His ‘response' was nothing but an abridged version of the budget speech. Commissioner Siddaiah, who spoke at length on measures taken to increase revenue generation, failed to provide any concrete answers,” claimed Opposition leaders.
