The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Corporation budget preparations hit roadblock

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Corporation budget preparations hit roadblock

Karthik Subramanian

Questions over decision to call off meetings

CHENNAI : With the Corporation Council not scheduled to take any important decisions till the Madras High Court passes final orders on the case related to poll violence, questions have arisen on how it would affect the civic agency's budget preparations.

The Corporation had already started preparations on various proposals for the coming year.

Mayor M. Subramanian had only recently chaired meetings with various heads of departments. Simultaneously the various Standing Committees and Zonal Committees, comprising councillors from different parties, had met to discuss various projects to be tabled in the Budget 2007-08.

Everyone thought the Budget could be tabled in the February meeting and the Standing Committee chairman for Taxation and Finance was to present it.

But now Mr. Subramanian's decision not to call meetings, based on the DMK high command's advice, have raised doubts in the minds of councillors on what to do next.

Mr. Subramanian said he did not want to comment on Budget preparations beyond the fact that he had conducted the initial meetings and hoped that the legal issue would be resolved much earlier.

Opposition party leader and Congress councillor Saidai P.Ravi said DMK's decision not to take any important decisions was also binding on them as they were from the same alliance.

"It is not clear what will happen at this point though we wish that the verdict comes soon," he said.

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