Congress councillor and Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) member Gaurav Bhatti has sought an inquiry into municipal corporation payments exceeding ₹ 5 crore for old PUEIP and Smart City projects, alleging that these were released without being placed before the committee for scrutiny. He has also questioned bills worth around ₹ 3 crore prepared by the Special Projects Organisation (SPO) branch, taking the total amount under scrutiny to over ₹ 8 crore.
Bhatti has demanded that all sanctions and payments approved by the commissioner, joint commissioners and zonal commissioners under their delegated financial powers be reported to the F&CC every month. The disclosures, he said, should include details of the works, their locations, estimated costs, approving authorities, contractors, work orders and payments released. Joint and zonal commissioners can approve works worth up to ₹ 2.5 lakh, while the commissioner’s limit is ₹ 5 lakh, according to his representation. He claimed that such oversight could potentially reduce avoidable spending by up to 40%.
Clarifying that he did not intend to obstruct development works, Bhatti said regular scrutiny by the F&CC would improve transparency and curb unnecessary expenditure.
The MC chief said he had directed the officials concerned to submit a detailed report on the matter, which would be discussed at the next meeting.
