Row on austerity measures: In U-turn, PMC chief says never ordered expenditure cut

He said he had observed that funds were being sought for same type of work again and again. “I felt the need to bring a check on such works and directed to prioritise the civic projects,” he added.

Elected representatives in the PMC had taken the municipal commissioner to task on issuing such directions to the civic administration. The corporators had said that the budget was finalised by them and the commissioner had no right to issue such directions without their permission. The civic administration should table deficit budget if they want to cut expenditure, they said, adding, the administration was not taking up the civic projects included in the annual budget for the current financial year.

Earlier, the members of the standing committee had also objected to the municipal commissioner’s directives on austeriy measure.

“The municipal commissioner has taken back his order on austerity measures. The administration has been asked to implement the budget in a usual manner,” said Ashwini Kadam, Chairperson, standing committee.

As per the civic administration, the revenue collection of the civic body till August-end was Rs 1,381 crore while its expenditure was Rs 998 crore. In 2014, the collection till August-end was Rs 1,455 crore and expenditure was Rs 832 crore.

As a policy decision, the municipal commissioner had issued an order to put a check on civic expenditure by putting a stop to purchasing benches, jute or cotton bags, sewing machines, bicycle, equipment for gym, and installing steel bus stops.

However, the elected representatives refused to follow the directions of the municipal commissioner in the standing committee meeting and got many proposals approved which otherwise should not have been implemented keeping in mind the austerity measures.

The civic administration’s proposal to spend Rs 46 lakh on renovation of garden was approved in the standing committee meeting. The elected representatives had raised doubts on the administration’s proposal with the austerity measure in place.