Income Rs 5 cr, Dharamsala MC passes Rs149 cr budget

Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, February 26

The Dharamsala Municipal Corporation (DMC) yesterday passed an interim budget of Rs 149 crores. However, the budget had glaring difference between the income and expenditure of the corporation. Sources here said that the DMC has an income of just about Rs 5 cores. Even this income has gone down in the current financial year due to corona lockdown.

Sources said the income of the corporation was just enough to pay the salaries and pensions of its employees.

Mayor of Dharamsala Municipal Corporation Davinder Jaggi, when asked as to how the local body aims to spend Rs 149 crores when it has an income of just Rs 5 crores, said, “Most of the projects we are proposing in the city would either be funded by the state government or the union government. The corporation in its budget also proposes to bring up some projects in partnership mode with local citizens. In case residents of the city want to bring up some public infrastructure such as community hall or parking on their land the corporation would fund 50 per cent of the total cost of the project,” he said.

The commissioner of Dharamsala Municipal Corporation, Pradeep Thakur, said that the local body was aiming to increase its income. He said at present property tax was being charged from people residing in old Dharamsala area only. However, the corporation was in the process of geo tagging the buildings so that property tax can be charged from a larger number of people.

Besides, the corporation had given about land or buildings on lease to private people. “Some people, who have taken buildings or land on lease, were paying paltry rent per month. We aim to revise the lease deeds so that market rent could be charged from such people”.

The present gap between the income and expenditure of Dharamsala city is too huge to be bridged through increase in income sources. The proposed expenditure of the MC is 30 times more than its income.