GUWAHATI: With the impending end of the 5-year tenure of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) council on 31st July 2018, the councillors have alleged that the government has been very slow in allotting funds.
Councillor of ward number 27, Jona Rabha said, “The government allotted the funds very late which made it difficult to develop the roads and other infrastructure in the ward.” He said that whatever funds the GMC allots for ward development is directly given to the contractors.
Rs 30 lakh each was allotted to all the councillors of the 31 wards in 2014 and almost all of them spent the entire money in repairing only a few roads in their respective wards.
The councillors however submitted further requirements but the next time they received any fund was in August 2016 amounting to Rs 60 lakhs each.
This amount was also utilised for construction of drains and repairing some roads, but for just the minimal developmental work, the councillors require at least Rs 30 crores each.
Lastly, they received a sanction of Rs 1.30 crores in 2017 and work under that sanction is still underway.
Also, as revealed by another councillor, even after the sanction the contractors do not receive money on time resulting in delay of work.
Jona Rabha said, “These sanctions are directly given to the contractors on completion of work and the councillors do not get anything.”
Rabha said that there are many miscellaneous expenses and the councillors have to often spend from their own pockets. He feels that he has become bankrupt after becoming a councillor.
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Councillors also require money to contest elections. As per a notification issued by the state election commission, the maximum expenditure ceiling for a ward councillor was Rs 300,000 in 2013 and maximum expenditure ceiling for an area sabha representative was Rs 75,000 in the same year.
Many other councillors blamed the government of allotting lesser funds and also for allotting the same late.