A deficit budget of ₹8.96 crore was presented by Mayor J. Illamathi at Dindigul Corporation on Wednesday.
Even as the councillors and officials were present in full, Congress councillors led by Karthik wore black shirts to express their displeasure and protest against the Union government and the BJP for disqualifying their leader Rahul Gandhi.
When the Mayor called the meeting, the first agenda was on the annual budget for the Corporation. However, within a few seconds, the budget was passed unanimously amid surprise and shock from the councillors, including those from the DMK and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), expressing their disappointment.
However, the Mayor went on explaining that the Corporation had taken numerous measures to increase the revenue and bring about development with the support of councillors and the civic officials. She said that the Corporation’s revenue was targeted at around ₹70.31 crore, including those from the taxes from the public and expenditure of around ₹79.27 crore.
When a majority of the councillors insisted on a discussion over the budget, the Mayor said that the meeting has approved it and shall move over to the next resolution in the agenda marked for the ordinary meeting.
Intervening, the Communist councillor Ganesan wondered about the budget copies being printed in English and wanted to know the reasons for not printing them in Tamil. When a few other councillors were on their toes, the Mayor said that while a majority of them are educated, the English copies were given. However, she said that the budget copies would be translated in Tamil and given to the members.
BJP councillor Dhanapal demanded the officials to be fair and transparent in sharing with the councillors details of tenders and auctions in the Corporation. The officials said that on getting approval from the Mayor, the details would be shared.
