Opposition parties, mainly Telugu Desam and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have criticised the approval of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) budget for 2013-14 in a hasty manner, while Congress and MIM described it as a excellent budget.
TDP GHMC floor leader, Singireddy Srinivasa Reddy said, “There are several important subjects that need to be modified and we even requested the mayor to include some of the proposals, but mayor Majid Hussain wanted to pass the budget in haste. The budget was passed in just a few hours, without any detailed discussion on any of the subjects.”
The budget should be discussed in detail head-wise and necessary alterations in allocations should be made by taking the views of all the parties. The budget meeting should have been held at least for three days, he said.
TDP corporators were not given enough time to expresses their views and wherever alterations in figures were proposed, they were not considered. The TDP has submitted a dissent over the budget approval granted by the corporation, he added.
BJP GHMC floor leader Bangari Prakash said the budget is being passed with big figures every year, but not even 50 percent of it is being spent. Special allocation has to be made under the SC/ST sub-plan, he said.He demanded `100 crore for the development of burial grounds as a majority of them have turned into garbage dumping grounds. For the safety of pedestrians, priority should be given to footpath development, he said.
Of the total property tax collections in each circle, GHMC should spend 50 percent in those circles and should not divert the funds to elsewhere, he added.
Deputy mayor G Raj Kumar said the budget was “ideal” and “excellent”. It ensures the development of the city without any tax hike. It also has provided for the uplift of weaker sections, slum development and improvement in civic amenities, he said.
Congress floor leader Diddi Rambabu hailed the budget saying it caters to all sections of the society. More thrust is given to the uplift of weaker sections through poverty alleviation, he said.