Kerala - Kochi   

Corporation seeks EC's nod for presenting budget

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: The "unexpected" announcement of Assembly election has caught the civic bodies in the State off-guard, as most of them are finding it difficult to present the annual budget as the election code of conduct has come into effect.

The Kochi Corporation, which has originally scheduled its budget presentation on March 8, has written to the State Election Commission seeking permission for presenting the budget, said Mercy Williams, Mayor.

The civic administrators are worried about the changes that they may have to make in the budget speech, which was prepared after a series of discussions and deliberations. The Kochi Corporation has also printed nearly 200 copies of the budget speech of Deputy Mayor, who is also the chairman of the Finance Standing Committee of the Corporation.

The situation is not new to Kochi, as they had to avoid the announcement of projects earlier also because of one of the byelections, said C.K. Manisankar, Deputy Mayor. The Corporation has faxed a request seeking permission for presenting the guidelines to S.M. Vijayanand, Secretary of the Local Self Government Department (Urban), he said.

The civic administrators feel that they will have to present the budget sans the announcement of various projects. They may even have to re-draft the budget speech and drop the highlights of the projects that are to be implemented by the council during the next one year. By law, the civic bodies will have to present their annual budget before March 31.

The declaration of the election has also forced the civic authorities to postpone the inauguration of the office of the information officer, which is set up according to the provisions of the Information Act, and also the inauguration of a Homoeo dispensary at Udaya Colony at Gandhi Nagar. The dispensary will start functioning without waiting for the formal inauguration, Mr. Manisankar said.

He is of the view that the budget presentation of civic bodies should be permitted.

The Thrissur Corporation has decided to present its budget on March 10, though notice has not been issued to the council members, said R. Bindu, Thrissur Mayor. The Corporation has not yet thought of approaching the Election Commission for permission, she said.

The Kozhikode Corporation, which is planning to present its budget during the third week of March, will prepare the budget speech in such a manner not to violate the code of conduct. "We will have to avoid announcement of new projects in the budget in the wake of announcement of election. It would not be a difficult task as we have done it earlier also," said M. Bhaskaran, Kozhikode Mayor.

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