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Civic body panel chief quits after budget presentation

CUTTACK: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) on Wednesday witnessed an unprecedented situation when the civic body’s finance committee chairperson after presenting the annual budget announced her resignation to the post.

Saraswati Barik, after presenting the last budget of the present CMC council in ‘protest’, tendered her resignation saying the budget was “unrealistic” and had not got the approval of the council’s finance committee. “The budget which was prepared by the officials has very limited scope for income generation and is not people-friendly,” Barik said after the council meeting.

The council meeting convened on the day to pass the 2008-09 annual budget witnessed pandemonium as many corporators, including that of the ruling BJP-BJD combine, opposed it saying the budget lacks focus for carrying out any developmental work in the Millennium City. The budget was however, passed amid uproar and chaotic scene.

Mayor Nibedita Pradhan said the surplus budget for the ensuing fiscal has a provision for an expenditure of around Rs. 159.34 crores against an income of Rs. 160.93 crores. The civic body aims at generating revenue of Rs. 153.75 crores in the coming fiscal that would have an opening balance of Rs. 7.17 crores, Mr. Pradhan said.

The BJP leader, however, declined to comment over the resignation of Barik from the finance committee and added that the budget was prepared after due consultation with all the standing committees of the council. The Mayor also denied the allegation that the budget was prepared by the officials ignoring the finance committee.

The annual budget of the civic body was the last of the present council and the council members had anticipated that the budget would make adequate provisions for income generation so as to take up more developmental projects in the election year. After a dismal performance of the CMC for last four years, the corporators hoped to regain some lost ground in the last year of their tenure by winning the heart of the people. They are now crestfallen.

“This was perhaps the most horrible budget of the council ever presented by the CMC ever since the civic body became a corporation in 2003. Not only the income generation is 20 per cent les but the expenditure is about 25 per cent less than that of the previous year,” said Pradipta Kumar Routray, a senior BJP corporator.

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