Rs 45,695.58 million tax-free CDGK budget approved

The city council on Saturday approved amid uproar by the opposition Rs 45,695.58 million surplus budget for 2007-08 fiscal year. The budget, presented by Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, with a 26 percent increase in volume, includes Rs 2054.57 million for the annual development programme (ADP), Rs 5,300 million for Tameer-e-Karachi programme and Rs 9,924.01 million for the development expenditures.
The budget estimates include Rs 4381.27 million for establishment expenses, Rs 1585.06 million for contingencies and Rs 284.31 million for other expenses, including repair and maintenance of roads, buildings and other infrastructures.
Transfer of funds/share to the towns and union councils (UCs) stands at Rs 2624.70 million, while allocation for devolved departments (government of Sindh) is Rs 9153.95 million.
Allocations for water and sanitation department includes expenditure of Rs 4303.87 million and development expenditure of Rs 5867.31 million. The total estimates for the expenditure, to be incurred during 2006-07 financial year comes, to Rs 45479.05 million as against the receipts of Rs 45695.58 million, thus making it a surplus budget of Rs 216.53 million.
The receipts for the next fiscal includes current receipts of Rs 22636.33 million, capital receipt: Rs 1679.54 million; annual development programme: Rs 2054.57 million; devolved departments (government of Sindh) salary/ non-salary: Rs 9,153.95 million; and water and sanitation department (KWSB): RS 1,0171.18 million.
The Works and Services Department got the biggest allocation of Rs 12,553. 48 million, while the education and health sectors, with a 12 percent increase, will get Rs 7,991.43 million and Rs 3,137.57 million respectively.
The lowest amounts allocated in the fiscal budget are for the Nazim's Secretariat, which stands at Rs 28.17 million and literacy sector of the CDGK Rs 28.17 million. Earlier, presiding over the budget session, Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil invited the City Nazim to present the new budget.
As the Nazim started his speech, the opposition members started chanting slogans and beating desks, saying that the budget was illegal as the opposition was not taken into confidence. They raised placards inscribed with anti-CDGK and budget slogans.
They also tore the budget documents and threw the parts of pages into air. Addressing the council, Mustafa Kamal said that the CDKG had provided the public with relief and strove to develop basic civic infrastructure in the city on priority basis. Opposition, by creating problems in the execution of uplift projects, did not want the city government to serve the public, he said.
He also accused the opposition of non-functional in their respective union councils, adding that they had lost popularity amongst the masses. He thanked the electronic and print media for highlighting the civic issues and making the public well-informed of the CDGK performance.
"The 2007-08 fiscal budget is increased by 26 percent in volume against the previous budget," the City Nazim said. Health and education, being the fundamental right of the public, were given top priority in the budget allocations, he said the CDGK had earmarked 12 percent more funds to provide these basic facilities to the people.
He said the CDGK had restored the confidence of international financial institutions, which was evident from the fact that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had provided Rs 55 billion for the uplift projects. He urged the Karachiites to judge for themselves the performance of the present and previous civic administrations as to which had served them better. He, however, vowed to continue execution of the uplift projects in all 178 UCs despite hurdles.