The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Alternative budget shows surplus

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Saturday, Mar 31, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Alternative budget shows surplus

Staff Reporter

Citizen Action Forum has come out with Citizen's City Budget

BANGALORE: Even as the Special Commissioner of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) presented the budget for Greater Bangalore on Friday, the Citizen Action Forum came out with the Citizen's City Budget for 2007-2008 of Rs. 5,430 crore, showing a surplus of Rs. 872 crore.

The initiative by the CAF is believed to be the first of its kind and based on figures from BMP budgets and from the Comprehensive Development Plan submitted for JNNURM.

Releasing the citizen's budget at a press conference here, Mathew Thomas said, "We do not want to just criticise the BBMP budget, but we have given an alternative. The budget has been prepared by an expert panel after holding preliminary meetings that set out the aims and objectives of the initiatives."

The citizen's budget provides thrust to water and suggests the takeover of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and creating a water company with people as stakeholders. Calling for capacity building within BBMP, it suggests voluntary retirement scheme to rationalise human resources and forming of ex-employees cooperatives.

Among other highlights are higher outlays on education, asphalting 500 km roads for 100 and odd villages now under BBMP.

In the social sector, the budget has proposed infants day-centre for poor, working mothers, migrant workers' shelter, free water for poor families and creation of jobs through employment guarantee scheme.

Seeking to bring accountability, the citizen's budget proposes independent certification agencies and mandated citizen's verification for all works.

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