Social welfare a key focus in city’s new budget

City

The BBMP announced a budget outlay of 9,322 crores.

By Stuti Tripathi and Tushar Goenka

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) declared its annual budget yesterday with solid waste management (SWM) and social welfare schemes getting the biggest allocation. Health and education received the smallest allocation.

The SWM department got 11 per cent of the allocation. Joint commissioner of the BBMP, solid waste management, Sarfaraz Khan said, “About Rs. 750 crores will go for collection and transportation of garbage. The remaining amount will be used for disposal of waste. The mayor has also allotted Rs. 150 crores towards waste management plants.”

However, Janaagraha, an NGO that closely works with the BBMP, finds the budget to be very ambitious. Mathangi Chandrasekhar, Associate Manager at ‎Janaagraha said, ”The budget outlay of Rs. 9,322 crore this year is a very ambitious target. We are not sure if they will be able to meet it. The way the revised budget of 2017-18 is shaping up is a good enough indicator of how the Budget of 2018-19 will turn out.

‘Pay and pension’, ‘Welfare schemes’, ‘Loans and interests’ are some of the other areas funds have been allocated.

A significant part of the funds has been allocated for welfare schemes. Pourakarmikas will be provided free safety kits and free mid-day meals in Indira canteens.

BBMP east zone said that the minimum wage for the pourakarmikas has gone up in the last one year. However, the pourakarmikas are disappointed with the irregularity of the wages they receive.

“They said they will increase our salaries. They haven’t done anything for salaries from December 2017 to February 2018. We haven’t received anything and they keep redirecting us to higher authorities. We live in such hard times. How do we make a living.”, said a pourakarmika.

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