Kerala - Kochi

Corporation seeks more funds

KOCHI: The Kochi Corporation has urged the State government to view Kochi as a metropolitan city and allot more funds for its developmental and administrative expenses.

Backed by reports on the financial position of the Corporation and its increased financial commitments, a memorandum was sent to the Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, said Mayor Mercy Williams.

The Corporation council had earlier passed a resolution urging the State government to support the city by according it the metropolitan status.

The civic authorities are also thinking in terms of sending an all-party delegation to the Mr. Isaac to apprise him of the financial position of the civic body, Williams said.

The Corporation is struggling to meet the increased expenditure with its resources. The financial burden of the civic body is increasing with the introduction of new projects and welfare schemes. The expectation levels of the city dwellers are also high and the civic body is striving to meet the aspirations of the people, she said.

Among the civic bodies in the State, Kochi Corporation would be the one maintaining maximum number of roads and the funds earmarked is grossly inadequate. There is also little scope for diverting the funds from other heads for the road repair works, she said. The revisions in the pensions and water tariff introduced by the government recently will burn holes in the pocket of the civic body. The Corporation cannot reduce the public taps as they are used by people. It is estimated that there are around 6,000 public taps in the city. Going by revised tariff, the Corporation will have to set aside a considerable amount to meet these expenses, she said. The Corporation had recently cleared the arrears of the pension and other payments to the staff and contingent workers. The backlog regarding the Provident Fund of its employees was also cleared. The unions were resorting to hard bargaining for recovering the long-pending payments and the Corporation had to make these payments from its limited resources, she said.

What worries the Corporation most is its anticipated reduction in income against the increased expenses. Once the new property tax regime based on floor area is introduced, the authorities fear that there will be further reduction in its income. The civic body no longer receives any support from the government in the form of vehicle tax compensation which it had been receiving for long, Ms. Williams said.

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