Pauper CMC plans austerity measures

Cuttack Municipal Corporation has decided to take a slew of austerity measures in order to meet the minimum requirements of providing basic amenities to the people of this millennium city of Odisha.
Corporators cutting across party lines have advocated for adoption of strong austerity measures in slashing unnecessary expenditures so as to meet the day-to-day requirements of the civic body.
The fact that the civic body recently depended heavily on the district administration to purchase disinfectants like bleaching powder went on to amply prove that the "surplus" budgets presented by the earlier BJD council was nothing but a "misnomer", a corporator said today.

The Corporators in the council meeting held yesterday were furious about the high electricity bills the civic body has incurred for its two office buildings at Vikash Bhawan and the Choudhury Bazaar office, he said.
Many corporators also questioned about the high fuel expenditures stating that even a low-ranking officer is using a vehicle on the civic body's exchequer.
"It is high time the officers and engineers should think of having car-pool to cut the heavy fuel expenditure," said a corporator adding that stringent measures should also be taken to enhance the civic body's income.
The civic body had proposed a budget estimating a receipt of Rs 245.69 crore with an opening balance of Rs 3.82 crore, according to official documents. It also proposed to spend in the ensuing fiscal Rs 245.52 crore leaving a surplus of around Rs 4 crore, they said.

The budgetary provisions in key sectors like health, sanitation, mosquito control and medical services were very dismal as the council had proposed spend a meagre Rs 10 crore in these sectors, said a corporator.