Thane: Thane municipal commissioner and administrator Abhijit Bangar on Thursday approved a Rs5,025 crore budget for the city including a provision of Rs5 crore for a memorial of Shiv Sena leader late Anand Dighe, while not increasing or adding taxes.
Dighe, who died in 2001, is considered to be the political mentor of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who represents the Kopri-Panchpakhadi assembly seat in the city. The memorial will come up at the site of the present mayor’s bungalow which will be shifted elsewhere. Rs5 crore has been provided for the same.
Budget Allocation and Governance Challenges
Like several other municipal corporations in the state, the Thane corporation does not have an elected body as elections have been pending for the last two years. While the TMC expects to have an income of Rs5,025.01 crore in 2024-25, the budget provided Rs5,024.67 crore under various heads of expenditure.
The allocation includes Rs1,679 crore for capital expenditure, Rs1,515.70 crore for wages and allowances, Rs831.88 crore for operation and purchase for operations, R 416.90 crore for administrative and other expenses, Rs183 crore for maintenance and repairs and Rs137.90 crore for various schemes.
Tax Collection Discrepancy And Budget Allocation Focus
While property tax collection for 2023-24 was satisfactory, the water tax collection left much to be desired. Against the target Rs225 crore, only Rs102 crore were collected. Eknath Shinde had given specific directions to concentrate on facilities for women, senior citizens and children in the budget, the commissioner said. The civic transport body will provide exclusive buses for women, and the free travel facility for the elderly – currently available for those who are above 75 – will be extended to those above 60.
The corporation will set up ‘Narendra Modi Thane Central Library’ for Rs1 crore. The mayor's bungalow will be relocated, for which a provision of Rs1 crore has been made. Another Rs1 crore has been provided for improvement of the area around ‘Anand Ashram’, Dighe’s erstwhile office.
