The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will present its budget estimates for 2024–2025 at the special budget meeting today. For the first time amid the absence of a standing committee, commissioner Gyanesh Bharti will present the budget. The standing committee is an 18-member decision-making body that effectively manages the corporation, with functions such as providing financial approval to projects, and discussing, finalising and implementing policies, among others. The standard procedure followed before delivering budget projections often entails several steps. Prior to the requests being discussed, each council member states their needs to the committee that oversees their ward. The administrative wing of MCD then prepares a draft while discussions with the commissioner and standing committee take place. The commissioner then presents the draft during a special house meeting, and the final budget is determined by the standing committee's members voting in favor of it with a majority. This year, the budget will be presented to the house without following conventional protocols. "After consulting with the municipal secretary to see if the DMC Act allowed the budget to be tabled in the committee's absence, a legal team was assigned to investigate the constitutionality of presenting the budget in the absence of the standing committee. Only then was it decided to present the budget in front of the house," MCD sources said. The absence of a standing committee means that general protocol cannot be followed, so no significant policy changes will be included in this year's budget, according to sources. The MCD had approved a budget estimate of Rs 16,023 crore for 2023–24 in March 2023. Sanitation had received 27.87% of the budget; general administration received 20.82%; education received 17.77%; community services received 0.46%; public works and street lighting received 11.36%; and public health and medical sector had received 10.73%. Budget expenditure for sanitation is predicted to face a reduction of about 2.73%, with a drop in budget share from 27.87% to 25.14%. According to sources, most other heads won't notice a significant change from the budget projections from the previous year, “There are not more than 1% decreases and increases in most other heads,” said sources. Increases in taxes, especially on residential properties, are also anticipated to be proposed to boost municipal revenue. Sources have stated that since taxes are the MCD's sole source of income, a tax increase is anticipated to be recommended during the special budget meeting.
