More impetus for health and education sectors likely in Corpn budget

Chennai, January 19:

With the date (Feb 15) for presenting the civic body’s budget for the year 2011-12 announced, Chennai Corporation has kick started a series of meetings with the heads of the departments to finalise budgetary allocation for various public welfare schemes.

According to sources, Corporation Mayor Subramanian, keeping the forthcoming state Assembly elections in mind, would table another budget sans any new taxes focusing mainly on health and education sectors.

There is expectation that the budgetary allocations in education and health segments, two important sectors besides the infrastructure, could be increased considerably to maintain momentum in the schemes that were being announced and carried out in the last four years.

Mayor Subramanian is expected to unveil the financial plan on February 15 in the special Budget Meeting and on February 17, it will be adopted after open discussion in the House.

The extensive and detailed meeting with each department is likely to begin in couple of day, sources said.

In the meeting organised on Wednesday at Ripon Building, the civic body’s top officials and heads of the different departments led by the Mayor Subramanian reviewed the progress of different schemes announced in the 2010-11 budget.

Of the total 122 schemes announced, about 100 promises (schemes) were fulfilled by now and Subramanian ordered the officials to execute the remaining ones before February 15 deadline.

Since the historic Corporation has to be expanded by merging adjacent local bodies before the mandated October local body elections, it remains to seen how the civic body presents it budget in February.