MCD special meeting for civic budget to be held Tuesday

A special meeting has been convened at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) headquarters on Tuesday to discuss and deliberate on the civic budget.

As required by norms, the civic budget is to be cleared by March 31.

The MCD passed the "schedule of taxes" in the civic budget for 2023-24 on February 15. But the remaining budget process was stalled as the standing committee of the civic body is yet to be elected.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is "exploring options" to have the remainder of the civic budget cleared by March 31, official sources had said on Friday.

The MCD has said that the "special budget meeting" of the MCD for budget proposals for the revised estimates for the year 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 would be held on Tuesday at Aruna Asaf Ali Meeting Hall at 2 pm.

Earlier, the MCD had also written to the Delhi government to seek permission to call a special session for clearing the budget before March end.

If the entire budget doesn't get passed by March 31, things may "get into a limbo", a source said on Friday.

The allocations made to various departments in a civic budget is key to proper civic functioning.

The "schedule of taxes" was passed by the special officer of the MCD, whose office ceased to exist after the election of the Delhi mayor.

The taxes, rates and cesses to be levied in 2023-24 will remain the same that are prevalent as of today, the MCD said in a statement on February 15.

The municipal commissioner had presented the MCD budget in December and included the Revised Estimate for 2022-23 and the Budget Estimate for 2023-24, an official source said.