BENGALURU: Janaagraha, an NGO, has pointed out that the budgets presented by five city corporations have stressed more on infrastructure while ignoring the city’s healthcare, education and welfare measures for the city population.
“The total outlay stands at Rs 20,217 crore, with a strong tilt towards infrastructure spending (60%), while health, education, and other social sectors remain underfunded. The analysis also highlights sharp fiscal disparities across corporations, with some relying heavily on state grants due to weaker local revenue generation,” the release stated.
The NGO stressed that there is a significant shift towards more localised planning following the dissolution of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) paving way to five new city corporations namely Bengaluru North City Corporation, Bengaluru East City Corporation, Bengaluru West City Corporation, Bengaluru South and Central City Corporations, the maiden budget by each civic body raise important questions around democratic accountability, as it has been prepared without elected council especially with municipal elections coming up.
“Public works dominate spending across all corporations: Between 50% and 69% of total expenditure is allocated to public works, making it the single largest spending category. Solid waste management is a consistent priority, as around 10-12% of expenditure is allocated across all corporations, making it one of the few uniformly prioritised service delivery functions.
Spending on public health (2-3%), education (1%), and urban forestry (0-1%) remains minimal across all corporations, indicating that budgets are heavily skewed toward physical infrastructure,” the release added.
As per the release, the Programme Expenses (consolidated Health, Education, and Welfare) are estimated at Rs 321 crore.
Janaagraha has also pointed out that there are early signs of progress on transparency and citizen engagement, including public dashboards and digital grievance systems. The East City Corporation (BECC) is introducing a “BECC Public Dashboard” which will provide citizens with ward and department-level details regarding project progress and expenditures. Similarly, the West Corporation emphasises community participation as a core principle. The commitment to publicly disclose its existing 1,946 municipal assets with plans to GIS tag is a step in the right direction to empower citizens with information.
The North City Corporation (BNCC) is moving away from slow, file-based processes. Additionally, the corporation shows increased adoption of digital management e-governance, facilitating automatic receipts and payments through e-Khata software, and additional steps planned towards digitisation of E-DRC/E-TDR enabling the public to participate in an online marketplace to acquire development rights. The Central and North Corporations operate 24/7 control rooms to register public complaints and forward them to relevant officers for rapid action.
“With municipal elections expected in the coming months, any incoming elected council will have the authority to revisit and potentially override these financial priorities. Beyond numbers, these budgets reflect early attempts to reshape the relationship between citizens and urban governance,” the release stated.