[Malegain Mayor Shaikh Rasheed of Congress (second from left) addressing the press. Also seen are from left Deputy Mayor Sakhara Ghodke of Shiv Sena, AIMIM Group Leader Khalid Yunus Isa and Standing Committee Chairman Saleem Anwer.]
Malegaon: The Maharashtra government Tuesday put a stay till a further order the 2017-18 budget passed by Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) after opposition parties alleged manipulation by the ruling Congress, Shiv Sena and Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
According to Deputy Commissioner MMC, the civic body received a letter from state secretariat Mantralay which said the 410 crore rupees budget passed by the MMC General Body is kept under suspension till further order.
According to the sources, the decision to keep under suspension the budget of the civic body is taken as per the direction of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis following a complaint by the opposition parties led by Azeem Ittehad of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Janata Dal (S).
The letter, dated October 24, 2017 and signed by Deputy Secretary Urban Development Department, has also asked the civic body to submit its reply by October 30 about the objections raised by the opposition parties.
In their complaint sent to the state government, Azeem Ittehad leaders Buland Iqbal, Mustaqeem Dignity and ex MLA Mufti Mohammad Ismael have alleged large scale manipulation by the ruling group comprising of Congress, Shiv Sena and Owaisi’s AIMIM.
The Azeem Ittehad leaders alleged in their complaint that the allocations of funds in the budget lacked transparency, and also accused the ruling group of bias and prejudice towards the wards represented by the corporators belonging to the opposition parties.
“Except for the coprorator’s fund of Rs.16 lakh, no fund is allocated for the wards represented by the opposition parties even though some of these wards are lacking in all kind of amenities and need urgent intervention”, Mustaqeem Dignity of Janata Dal (S) said while talking to ummid.com.
Showing the details of funds allocated in all 21 wards of Malegaon, Mustaqeem pointed out how funds exceeding over a crore rupees is allocated for the wards represented by the ruling parties.
“Funds have also been allocated for some works which were in the last year’s budget and the payment of the said works has also been made by the civic body”, he alleged.
Referring to the budget copy, Mustaqeem Dignity also pointed out that a fund of Rs.13 crore has been allocated in the budget with the sole authority of the Mayor.
“No details have been mentioned in the budget how and where this 13 crore rupees will be spent”, he said.
The budget copy also showed crores of rupees allocated for the construction of drainage and roads in different wards, without specifically disclosing the locations and other necessary details.
After the state government’s order to put a stay on the budget, Mayor Shaikh Rasheed of Congress accompanied by Deputy Mayor Sakharam Ghodke of Shiv Sena, Khalid Yunus Isa of AIMIM and Standing Committee Chairman Saleem Anwer addressed media persons and rubbished all allegations leveled by the Azeem Ittehad leaders.
“There is nothing wrong in the budget. We are ready for any enquiry”, he said.
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