Chandigarh: Each ward to get ₹25L to resume devp works amid cash crunch
After a year-long pause in developmental activities due to a financial crunch, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) is set to resume small-scale infrastructure works across the city, with mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla on Tuesday, directing the councillors to prepare a list of urgent pending projects worth up to ₹25 lakh each in their respective wards.
Babla called an all-party councillors meeting on Tuesday and officially announced the allocation of a ward development fund of ₹25 lakh per councillor.
Despite receiving no additional financial aid from the UT administration or the central government, the civic body is now leaning heavily on revenue generated through taxes, especially property tax, collected in the first quarter of the current fiscal year to restart halted works.
Due to the ongoing fiscal crisis, no fresh tenders have been floated since May last year. The stagnation brought Chandigarh's local infrastructure development to a standstill. Even approved projects like road re-carpeting, renovation of community centres, improvement of public toilets and cremation grounds, and market beautification were put on indefinite hold.
Every financial year, ₹80 lakh is earmarked for development in each ward under the 'Ward Development Fund'. Notably, councillors were not allocated any development funds in the previous financial year, further adding to public grievances over stalled civic improvements.
'The fund is aimed at addressing the basic developmental needs of each ward, including infrastructure upkeep, civic amenities, sanitation improvements, and other essential services. It is important to judiciously use the available resources to ensure that residents do not face any disruption in core civic services', mayor Babla said, while urging all councillors to prioritise key issues and work in collaboration with officials to execute development works efficiently.
'This fund is a step toward empowering local leadership to address ward-level issues swiftly and effectively. Despite financial constraints, we are committed to ensuring that the basic development needs of all city wards are met,' the mayor added.
BOX: Councillors clash with commissioner over pending salaries of 400 contractual staff; meeting cut short after confrontation
The meeting, which was also attended by municipal commissioner Amit Kumar and other senior MC officials, lasted only 15 minutes after councillors began questioning the commissioner over the pending salaries of nearly 400 contractual employees. According to councillors, workers in the public health wing—including sewer men—have not been paid for the past four months due to a delay in tendering processes. Commissioner Kumar clarified that one month's salary had recently been disbursed and that efforts were underway to release dues.
However, despite the clarification, councillors, led by BJP's Kanwarjeet Singh Rana, continued pressing the issue, seeking an explanation for the delay. 'The MC has always maintained that they would prioritise salaries over development. We hope that they always ensure that workers do not go unpaid,' said Rana. 'We are doing our job of asking relevant questions,' he added.
The commissioner eventually walked out of the meeting midway and refused to give a comment.
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