BMC receives a budget of 23,000 crores but where does it go?
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the largest Municipal Corporation in Asia, receives a budget of around Rs. 23,000 crores. According to some NGOs there is corruption in BMC. Hence, in order to put a stop to wrongful utilization of funds, the NGOs want Mumbaikars to vote for the right person in the upcoming elections. They have launched a campaign to make people aware about it. A merinews.com report.
BRIHANMUMBAI MUNICIAPAL Corporation has an annual budget of around Rs 23,000 crores. For people who might think that BMC is located in some rich western country, it is not - it is the largest Municipal Corporation in Asia, located at Mumbai. SACH, a charitable trust along with other NGOs has launched a campaign, ‘Give Corruption in BMC the finger’. F. Remedios, who is the spokesperson for the trust said, “Where does this huge budget go?” So they want people from Mumbai to be aware of whom they vote, when the election for BMC takes place on February 16.
They have launched a poster campaign against corruption in BMC. They have therefore urged the voters to get rid of this corruption, which puts development at the back foot. There are many well known faces that have been associated with the campaign. Some of them are Pranay Adhangale (Music Director), Aarti Vijay Gupta (Fashion designer and Stylist), Abhishek Marotkar (Singer), Vinit Bhatt (Photographer).
Prasad Kakodkar, who is the President for trust, said, “We want the people of Mumbai to come out of their homes and vote for the right candidate, suited for the job. They should not vote blindly”. It is not new that corruption is rampant in Indian politics, but it is the people who chose these politicians. So, one has to be careful while voting during these elections.
Remedios is not satisfied with the working of the elected heads in BMC. He said, “Politics has become a part time profession”. Though, they have huge funds in their account, they are not used in the right manner, and there is criticism that part of the funds are just wasted. Under-utilization is indicated as one does not come across investment in infrastructure utilizing this kind of money, which primarily lands in the pockets of individuals at BMC, said Remedios.
With this campaign, the charitable trust hopes that people in Mumbai at least make sure that the right person wins the respective seats. They also have a page dedicated towards the campaign in
Facebook to promote it. They hope that the social networking site could be helpful in spreading their word. Apart from these sites they are also using various local cable channels in Mumbai to promote this campaign. Shortly, they are also going to release around 10 posters for the campaign in Mumbai before the elections takes place. These posters will communicate about the ills of corruption.

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