MYSORE: Non-governmental organisations have raised key issues pertaining to transparency in civic administration and urged the Mysore City Corporation to bring credibility to the budgetary exercise.

Mysore Grahakara Parishat and other NGOs, including the ACICM and the Federation of Taxpayers, among others, had urged the corporation in the past to adopt the double-entry system in accounting and modern cost accounting procedures. But the corporation has not implemented them.

Suggestions

The parishat has given suggestions that the corporation can consider to increase revenue collection such as streamlining property tax collection. It has also called for augmenting resources by improving collecting of rent from corporation-owned commercial properties, license fees and the like.

The parishat has urged the corporation to hand over the Vani Vilas Waterworks to an autonomous body for maintenance or return it to the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Department to usher in efficiency in water distribution. On the accounting front, the corporation has been urged to adopt double entry book system and implement modern cost accounting methods. The other measures suggested include undertaking a management study to find the required manpower to provide adequate civic amenities, conceiving a plan to pay the ADB loan, among others.

Comparative study

Making a comparative study of the statement of accounts of the corporation's finances from the financial years 1997 to 2006, Bhamy V. Shenoy of the parishat pointed out that there is no benchmark to assess if the per capita amount of Rs. 904 allocated in 2005-06 is adequate or not. Analysing the accounts for office expenditure, electricity expenses of Vani Vilas Waterworks and street lighting, the parishat said it is not possible to know if the budgeted amount for repairs and maintenance and capital expenses is adequate or not. But the crumbling civic amenities are a clear indication that the corporation is not spending enough money on these heads. One of the reasons for the inability of the corporation to spend adequate amount is its failure in raising revenues from different sources, Dr. Shenoy said.

Commenting on the improved tax collection in recent years, the parsihat said this is because property tax collection was hopelessly poor till 1997-98. The corporation should have collected at least Rs. 40 crores to Rs. 50 crores from property tax but that is still a distant dream as property tax amounts to only a small percentage of the total revenues of the corporation, Dr. Shenoy said. The other issue raised by the parishat is the lack of computerisation of property tax collection and the inability of the corporation to give the exact percentage of households that have paid the tax.

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