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This is an archive article published on September 26, 2015
Pune Municipal Corporation to increase oversight on participatory budget
The PMC allocated at most Rs 50 lakh in each of the 76 electoral panels while making a budgetary provision of Rs 38 crore.
3 min read
The idea of keeping vigil is to ensure that only specific kinds of civic work are not undertaken in specific areas.For the last nine years, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has invited suggestions from citizens on how to spend its budget. In its tenth year, the PMC has decided to undertake increased oversight of work undertaken through this initiative to ensure that funds are not spent on the same work in specific areas.
“The citizen participatory budget had provided a good platform for involving the public in the annual budget and including its suggestions in civic work. It has received good response since it started in 2006. However, to make it more effective the PMC would increase vigilance in its implementation,” said Ulka Kalaskar, Chief Accounts Officer, PMC.
She said, “We need to bring a check on the implementation of citizen participatory budget. Thus, all the civic ward offices have been directed to submit the details on the kind of work done with the locations that are suggested under the budget.”
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The idea of keeping vigil is to ensure that only specific kinds of civic work are not undertaken in specific areas, Kalaskar said, adding, “There should be different types of civic works in any given area. Also, the same civic work in particular area should not be encouraged.”
The report by ward offices on civic work implemented under citizen participatory budget would be taken into consideration while scrutinising the works proposed in the next civic budget, she added.
Kalaskar said that public participation in suggesting civic work in budget is not uniform across the city.
People in some areas give more suggestions than others.
“The PMC has been doing enough publicity to encourage citizens to give suggestions on how to spend the budget. The citizens have to come forward to suggest civic work that resolves the issues in their vicinity,” she added.
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According to Janwani, a city-based NGO facilitating the process for citizen participatory budget, there were 2,500 forms received by PMC under participatory budget.
The maximum number came from Bhavai Peth ward office area with 345 forms and only 45 forms were received in Wanowrie-Kondhwa ward office area.
The PMC allocated at most Rs 50 lakh in each of the 76 electoral panels while making a budgetary provision of Rs 38 crore.
In the last few years, the budgetary allocation for participatory budget has been increasing due to the good response from citizens but the actual expenditure has been at least 60 per cent of the total allocation every year.
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In 2013-14, the allocation was Rs 29.52 crore while the expenditure was only Rs 18.92 crore.
Deadline for submitting suggestions
The deadline for submitting suggestions is September 30 and people are urged to fill up the relevant forms available in each of the 15 ward offices. The suggestions can also be given online through the website http://pmc.participatorybudgeting.in
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