They allege that crores have been spent on celebrations and government functions in the city while many areas went without some basic amenities.
The Congress has accused the ruling party in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) of spending crores on celebrations and government functions in the city while many areas of Ahmedabad went without some basic amenities.
“The ruling party has spent Rs7.38 crore on celebrations and government functions since 2010 while many city areas are still without basic facilities. Celebrations can wait. The civic body should provide amenities first,” stated leader of opposition in the AMC, Badruddin Shaikh.
Shaikh has further alleged that water supply in many areas of the city was inadequate. Yet the state government is willing to spend lakhs on inaugurations and celebrations, he stated.
“A whopping Rs89.98 lakh was spent on garib kalyan melas organised in the city in 2010. Another Rs21.8 lakh was spent on the Kankaria carnival in 2011 while Rs12.27 lakh was spent on the inauguration of the Gota-Ghatlodia railway under-bridge. How come the government finds money to spend on these functions when the city urgently needs some basic amenities?” stated Shaikh.
He added the marathon last year and inauguration of the tethered balloon in 2010 had cost Rs86.38 lakh and Rs13.77 lakh, respectively.
Giving more figures, Shaikh stated that Rs8 lakh was spent on Republic Day flag hoisting programme in 2011.
“Similarly, Rs3.26 lakh was spent on the inauguration of the BRTS corridor from Vivekanand bridge to Gujarat College in Jan 2011,” he said.
However, when asked about the huge expenditure incurred by AMC on public functions, Ahmedabad mayor Asit Vora said the tradition of organising events on a large-scale was quite old.
“Such inaugural functions were held even when Congress was in power in AMC. Hence the BJP is not doing anything new,” he said. He further said that such functions were needed to create awareness among the public about the work the civic body was doing.
“People should know about the various works undertaken by the AMC in the city such as construction of flyovers. Huge functions serve to bring to the public's knowledge the facilities that are available for them,” Vora said.
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