Monday, Dec 09, 2002
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New Delhi
By Our Staff Reporter
Interestingly, the per capita expenditure five years ago was less than Rs. 50 per month in 1997 and in 1990, the beginning of the era of economic liberalisation, it was a mere Rs. 30. On the other hand, the per capita earning for the civic body is about Rs. 87 per month which was Rs. 47.75 in 1997 and Rs. 28 in 1990. The latest figures compiled by the MCD reveals that both its revenue generation and expenditure increased substantially after the people's representatives were given powers in 1997 under the new format of the civic body. These figures assumes significance in the context that during this period population increase mainly due to migration continued unabated and the civic body's reliance on outside sources declined slightly. Unlike the general impression that things have deteriorated in the past five-six years and nothing works in the MCD, the figures reflect that the people's power have helped in improving the lot of civic body and it is becoming more responsible to people, said a senior official. "The figures have revealed this is a issue of financial mismanagement. Resources have to be used judiciously and transparency has to increase,'' officials said. Officials said the increasing tussle between the MCD and the Delhi Government over the release of Plan Funds in the past five years has forced civic body to look for other sources of revenue and decrease its dependency on the Delhi Government. In 1997 when the first MCD House was constituted, the per capita expenditure was Rs. 574 per annum, which increased to 679 the next year, but took a major jump to Rs. 928 in 1999 and Rs. 1,087 by the year 2000. All these years the former Mayor, Shanti Desai, was at the helm of affairs as Standing Committee Chairman in MCD. It increased marginally to Rs. 1,098 in 2001 and then to Rs. 1,181 this April when the BJP was thrown out of Town Hall the after municipal elections. During this period education, public health and sanitation continued to be the top priorities, which has been continued by the Municipal Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta, in his annual budget. As for the internal revenue generation of the civic body, it was less than Rs. 500 crores in 1997, which increase to more than Rs. 1,000 crore by 2002. Nearly three-fourths of the MCD's resources are self-generated, the figures reveal. The Delhi Mayor, Jaishree Panwar, said the per capita income would not only increase manifold during five-years rule of the Congress, but would be felt at the ground level. ``We are determined to increase transparency and make the MCD the first self-reliant civic body of the country. We do not have any dearth of resources. It is only an issue managing our huge resources and using them for the betterment of the people of the Capital. The series of urban governance reforms which have been unleashed now is a step in this direction,'' she said.
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