Mayor Shelly Oberoi said the meeting was adjounred for the day to allow some more time to councillors since a few of them had mentioned that they did not get adequate time to read the budget documents.
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The special meeting convened on Tuesday to deliberate on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD)’s annual budget was adjourned for the day, with Mayor Shelly Oberoi saying that the session will resume on Wednesday afternoon.
Explaining her decision, Ms. Oberoi said it was done to allow some more time to councillors since a few of them had mentioned that they did not get adequate time to read the budget documents.
While the deadline to pass the annual budget is on or before March 31, the schedule of taxes — a core part of the budget — was passed on February 15 by the special officer, whose role came to an end after the Mayor’s election.
Last December, MCD Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti had presented the budget estimates for 2023-24, with the estimated expenditure standing at ₹16,023 crore.
Some MCD officials, however, said the copy of the budget estimates was sent to the councillors along with the notice for the special meeting that was dispatched 72 hours before the meeting. “If the budget is not passed before the next financial year commences, the civic body’s functioning will get affected. This is mostly because none of the proposed estimates will be approved,” said an MCD official.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor termed the meeting’s adjournment a “failure”. He said it was adjourned because various proposals – which seek to amend portions of the budget estimates – were not accepted by the MCD secretary’s office.
“The Mayor has given another proof of her inexperience by again calling a budget meeting on Wednesday, for only a few hours. The BJP demands that the Mayor convene a meeting of at least eight hours to discuss the budget,” said Mr. Kapoor.
Ms. Oberoi declined to comment on the BJP’s statement and reiterated that the meeting was adjourned to provide more time to councillors to go through the budget documents.
The Aam Aadmi Party, in a statement, said, “The BJP’s claims regarding the adjournment are completely baseless. It had to be adjourned after some members of the House claimed that they did not have enough time to read the budget estimates. Thus, a copy of the estimates was circulated to every councillor and they were given ample time to read that by adjourning the session till Wednesday 2 p.m. The BJP is resorting to personal attacks against our leaders as it is still unable to digest its defeat in the civic polls.”
