Give grant plan by July 30, AMC tells corporators

It seems that the final round of planning to impress voters for the upcoming elections has started in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). In a meeting, the 129 elected members in the AMC were instructed to chalk out plans to spend the pending amount of the Rs 16 lakh grant allotted to them.

The AMC bosses have also given the corporators time till July 30 to submit their plans.

The plan is clear. The corporators should spend the money to provide utilities in their areas before the election approaches in October. This, the elected members in the AMC feel, is the right time to spend the money for the development of wards as the corporator's contribution would remain fresh in voters' memory.

"Once the notification for the election is out, it won't be possible for the corporators to do anything. So, we have set the deadline of July 30 to submit their concrete plans for the pending amount of the grant given to each of them.  Once they submit their plans, they can start developing the amenities in their wards till the election dates are announced," said a senior BJP corporator.
Each corporator gets around Rs 16 lakh grant to provide facilities in their wards. They have to spend the grant in the period of one year. There are many corporators in the AMC who have not even spent even half the grant money.

Then, there are a set of corporators who did not wish to spend money in developing others areas. Many corporators have preferred to wait for the delimitation draft. 

"There were chances of change of geographical limits of the ward. So, if a chunk of area - which was earlier in the ward I represent - goes to another ward, it was advisable to wait for the delimitation results and then spend money on the development of the ward. At least I would be able to serve my voters - who will eventually decide my fate in the election," opined one corporator.