Lahore Lord Mayor Colonel Mubashir Javed (retd) presented an interim budget of Rs 7.422 billion at the Lahore Metropolitan Corporation (LMC) for remaining two quarters of the current fiscal year on Tuesday. The budget session was convened by Deputy Mayor Nazir Swati. Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf-backed opposition leader Afeef Siddqui, along with his colleagues, continued protesting throughout the budget speech and raised slogans against the ruling party.
They kept thumping desks while the convenor repeatedly told them to keep quiet. On the other hand, members at treasury benches also chanted slogans in favour of their leaders. Javed announced in his budget speech that the total volume of the budget was limited but the corporation would try to generate additional resources on its own besides demanding additional grant from the provincial government.
He disclosed that the Punjab government would issue a grant of Rs 19.839 million to the LMC for the remaining period of the current fiscal year. Under the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC), the government would provide a grant of Rs 941.625 million for non-development expenditures and Rs 261.563 million for development expenditure during remaining period of the current fiscal.
According to the budget document, the corporation would generate financial resources of Rs 2.244 billion through its own resources including property taxes, property transfer tax, general bus stand fee, building fee, rental incomes and road-cut charges etc while it would get Rs 6.773 billion from provincial government on account of different grants.
The Mayor said the corporation was also expecting an additional grant of Rs 1 billion from the government for the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC). A sum of Rs 816.345 million has been allocated for development expenditures of which Rs 261.563 million would be spent on new development schemes while Rs 554.782 million will be spent on ongoing development schemes and liabilities of the LMC.
He announced that the Corporation would spend Rs 70 million for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the depilated roads and Rs 80 million would be spent on construction of small streets. A sum of Rs 60 million has been allocated for streetlights and Rs 51.50 million for upgradation of Raiwind and other general bus stands in the city. The Lord Mayor expressed his satisfaction that the corporation did not impose any new tax in the proposed budget and presented a surplus budget to meet expenditure of the new metropolitan corporation.
The Mayor said the new local government system had been activated in the province since January 1, and new public representatives were trying hard to make the system effective. He said the first budget of the LMC would provide a strong foundation for local government system in provincial capital. The corporation had devised stringent system of audit and accountability so public funds could be used for welfare of the masses. He asked union council chairmen to give suggestion and explore new avenues for revenue generation in their respective jurisdiction.
The LMC budget session was scheduled for 10:00am but it started with a delay of over two hours and concluded before Zohar prayers. Convenor Swati assured the LMC members from opposition benches that the corporation would improve its communication and co-ordination so that all the members could be informed about the upcoming session in a timely manner as the opposition complained that they were not informed properly.