2022 Delhi MCD polls: Civic bodies look at presenting early budget

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) With civic elections due early next year, the three municipal corporations of Delhi are set to present the budget ahead of schedule.

The north, south and east corporations of the city will present the budget in the last week of November, officials said.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) budget is slated to be tabled on November 25, sources said.

Such a decision seems to have been taken as no new announcements can be made after the moral code of conduct kicks in, they said.

Generally, a civic body makes a slew of announcements in its budget.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has also decided to present its budget later this month, officials said.

According to SDMC officials, the budget will be presented by Municipal Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti on November 23 instead of in December.

A senior SDMC official said the budget presentation procedure in civic bodies is slightly different from the one in state assemblies, adding that finance department in approval with the commissioner prepares budget proposals and that is presented by the commissioner.

He said the budget is then put for discussion among elected representatives in various committees of the civic body. Later leader of the House, leader of the opposition and mayor of the civic body present their views on the budget and also have the power to make amends in proposals.

"Generally, the budget is tabled by the commissioner in the first week of December and gets final approval by second week of February. This entire process takes about two months. As the elections are due early next year, model code of conduct may come in place by February, hence we have decided to wrap up the process by January-end," the official said.

The commissioner of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation is also slated to present the budget on November 26, while last year, it was done on December 9, sources added.

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