BMP budget: Taking the ‘road route’ to populism

BMP budget: Taking the ‘road route’ to populism
Deccan Herald

The last budget of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s sitting council will be presented on Friday. With the council elections due this year end, the obvious forecast is that it will be a “poll budget”.

The corporators though, are well aware of the changing times. As senior corporators like B S Satyanarayana (BJP) and P R Ramesh (Congress and former mayor) noted, much has changed in Bangalore in the last five years. One corporator observed that it has been a “transition period” and another noted that infrastructure is the mantra nowadays.

And so, alongside populist measures such as welfare programmes for women, unemployed and disabled, proposals on a host of flyovers, grade separators and ring roads will also figure in the budget. But priority will be roads.

Sources in the ruling Congress emphasised on concrete roads no matter whether they are mere ward level interlinking roads or arterial and sub-arterial roads. Congress leader in the BMP H Ravindra noted that concrete roads can figure in all category of road works - ward level works or projects section works, or World Bank funded works.

The election criteria will also see an increase in MLA grants and ward grants. Ward grant will be increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore, sources said and noted that efforts are on to ensure that a large share of the ward grant may be released for ‘piece’ works. Work can thus be entrusted directly to the contractors without the tender process.

The need for enhanced revenue generation in the BMP is likely to go unaddressed. There is no hazarding an increase in taxes in an election year, is the argument.

Capital Value Scheme

Pending the introduction of the Capital Value Scheme for property tax collection, corporators are not ready to even revise the rates under the Self Assessment Scheme.

A significant allocation is likely to go for projects slotted under the Centre’s Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission.

When Rs 730 crore figured in the State budget as the matching contribution to JN-NURM early this week, BMP Additional Commissioner Finance P K Srihari noted that the ‘reciprocal contribution’ can now figure in the BMP budget.

WHAT TO EXPECT

*The BMP budget allocation is around Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,100 crore - up from Rs 1,569.75 crore last year.

*Taxation and Finance Committee Chairperson Ms Lalitha Srinivas Gowda to become the first woman to present a budget in the BMP.

*Concrete roads, extension of the Sirsi Circle flyover till Jnanabharathi campus entrance on Mysore Road, ban on hoardings, adoption of government schools for maintenance, adoption of the Anganwadis in BMP limits are likely to be proposed.