Navi Mumbai– With the upcoming municipal budget set to be announced, citizens and activists are raising concerns over the lack of transparency in budget execution. While the administration makes grand announcements each year, there is no Implementation Accountability Report to track how the allocated funds are actually spent. This gap has led to growing frustration among taxpayers who demand better financial discipline.
Experts argue that before unveiling a new budget, the administration must present a detailed report on last year’s expenditure. Currently, there is no system to track whether the promised projects were completed or if the funds were properly utilized. As a result, unspent funds pile up for 9–10 months and are then hurriedly spent in February and March, often leading to poor-quality infrastructure and unnecessary expenses.
Geo-Tagging to Prevent Financial Mismanagement
To curb financial mismanagement, activists are advocating for a Geo-Tagging History Sheet system, which would assign unique property codes to all municipal assets, such as roads, footpaths, and drainage systems. For example, a road in Vashi could be labeled NMMC/RD/VA/SECTOR/XXX. Every expense related to that road would be recorded under the same code, creating a comprehensive expenditure history.
This would allow officials and citizens to track previous expenses on a particular asset, ensuring that funds are not wasted on repetitive work. If implemented, the system could prevent unnecessary projects, improve financial accountability, and bring much-needed transparency to the budgeting process.
Education & Healthcare: The Neglected Sectors
While taxpayers expect municipal budgets to focus on essential public services, reports indicate that only 2-3% of the total budget is allocated to education and healthcare. Activists are calling for an increase to at least 6% each for these sectors, along with strict monitoring to ensure that the funds are properly utilized.
“Despite having crores of rupees in their budget, the administration still fails to provide adequate infrastructure, manpower, and basic facilities. Without transparency, taxpayers’ money continues to be misused,” said a local activist.
Citizens Demand a Transparent Budgeting Process
Residents are urging the administration to introduce the following reforms for a transparent and accountable budgeting process:
✅ Quarterly Progress Reports – The municipal corporation should provide updates every three months on the execution of budgeted projects.
✅ Public Scrutiny of Budget Execution – Before presenting a new budget, a report on the previous year’s execution should be published.
✅ Avoiding Wasteful Expenditures – Funds should be allocated based on real public needs, not political promises.
✅ Ensuring Proper Spending on Critical Sectors – More funding and transparency in education and healthcare spending.
✅ Citizen Oversight – Taxpayers should have access to budget data via official websites and mobile apps to track municipal expenditures.
