BMC habitually makes tall claims without having any results to show for them
The Aam Aadmi Party today, slammed the Shiv Sena and the BMC for their failure to rejuvenate the Mithi river, despite spending crores on projects for the same. The Mithi river is an essential part of Mumbai’s natural infrastructure, and serves a key role as a natural drain for the city. Unfortunately, it has become a nalla today, having been subjected to excessive encroachment and pollution under the Shiv Sena government. In their 2022-23 BMC budget, the government has allocated 400 crores for the widening/training of the Mithi river, but this is one amongst several such budgetary allocations and initiatives undertaken by the BMC over the past two decades, which are yet to yield any outcomes.
After the 2005 floods in Mumbai, the 2006 Chitale Committee report had clearly directed the government to rejuvenate the river on a war footing. In fact, The MMRDA and BMC had spent over Rs 1,200 crore on the “development” of Mithi river till 2019. The BMC had cleared 569 Crores for Mithi’s rejuvenation in 2020, then tabled a Mithi desilting proposal of 132 Crores in February 2021, and cleared another project for Mithi worth 603 Crores in August 2021. The BMC and the Shiv Sena have already spent crores of public funds, with no results to show for it, and now, the 2022 budget has another 400 crores earmarked for the restoration of the Mithi river.
“Mumbai is governed by a PR sarkar. The BMC habitually makes tall claims and hefty budgetary allocations, but either these projects do not see the light of day because the allocated funds are lost to corruption, or the desired results don’t materialize because of a lack of due oversight. While such initiatives to restore Mumbai’s natural infrastructure are encouraged, we are afraid that this initiative will also be lost to the Shiv Sena’s incompetence, corruption and lack of initiative.” said Preeti Sharma Menon, National Executive Member and Mumbai Prabhari.
SC’s pulling up of the BMC and terming it’s inaction as putting Mumbaikar’s lives at danger is ‘Alarming
The Aam Aadmi Party today, called out the BMCs callousness towards the lives of Mumbaikars and Mumbai’s ecology, by not being able to construct STP plants, despite being pulled up by the SC. Moreover, what is further shocking is that the project cost escalation has been exponential when compared with other STPs in other states. This has resulted into both, a delay in execution, as well as an additional burden on the exchequer.
“We have self proclaimed environmentalists at the head of our government, who have proven to be useless time and again. If the Aam Aadmi Party can build world class STPs in Delhi at a fraction of the cost, then why can’t the BMC do the same? It clearly demonstrates the BMC’s lack of intent and callous approach towards Mumbai and Mumbaikars. AAP demands an urgent and immediate rationalization of costs, and speedy execution of these STPs without further delay.
Mumbai is the only large metropolis of the world which doesnt treat a bulk of its sewage and actually allows the sewage to flow out in the Arabian sea. This has resulted into the degradation of the entire coastal ecosystem, which is already very fragile. 10 species of fish have gone extinct in the last 3 decades alone. Dirty, contaminated water, which also creates a stench is the regular sight on all sewage outflows on Mumbai’s coastline.” said Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP National Executive Member and Mumbai Prabhari.
The International Monetary Fund has approved the completion of the sixth review of its stalled USD 6 billion programme for Pakistan, paving the way for an immediate disbursement of about USD 1 billion loan tranche for the cash-strapped country.
The IMF’s Executive Board held a meeting in Washington DC on Wednesday to consider Pakistan’s request for completion of the sixth review and release of a USD 1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The completion of this review allows for an immediate disbursement of 750 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) (about USD 1 billion) to Pakistan, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 2,144 million (about USD 3 billion) or 106 per cent of the country’s quota, the Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin also confirmed the approval in a tweet.
I am pleased to announce that the IMF Board has approved the 6th tranche of their programme for Pakistan, he wrote.
In July 2019, Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies for a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Under the agreement, Pakistan was to receive about USD 6 billion for a period of 39 months.
The IMF had pledged to provide support under the EFF programme when Pakistan’s economy was in a critical stage and badly needed assistance to meet the balance of payments challenge.
The IMF provides EFF loan facilities to a country facing serious medium-term balance of payments problems because of structural weaknesses that require time to address.
Compared to assistance provided under the standby arrangement, assistance under an extended arrangement features longer programme engagement to help countries implement medium-term structural reforms and a longer repayment period.
The programme aims to support Pakistan’s policies to help the economy and save lives and livelihoods amid the still unfolding Covid-19 pandemic, ensure macroeconomic and debt sustainability and advance structural reforms to lay the foundations for strong, job-rich and long-lasting growth that benefits all Pakistanis, the report said.
The sixth review was scheduled for January 12, 2022, and later January 28, but was postponed twice on Pakistan’s request to attain more time for implementing IMF conditions.
In order to meet another condition of the IMF, the government had successfully managed to get the State Bank (Amendment) Bill, 2021, cleared from the Upper House of Parliament which was the last stumbling block in reviving the stalled programme.
Following the clearance of the bill, all prior conditions of the Fund had been fulfilled by Pakistan, including the approval of the mini-budget and SBP bill.
The next review (seventh) under the USD 6 billion EFF programme will be due in April 2022. The last and final eighth review is expected to be done in September 2022, Geo News reported.
The programme, after the agreement, had remained largely off track, resulting in disbursements of only USD 2 billion in two years.
Islamabad had accepted the IMF’s conditions to reduce the primary deficit to 0.6 per cent, granting more operational autonomy to the SBP, placing a flexible exchange rate and further tightening the monetary policy.
Pakistan had also already accepted two conditions of the IMF. It increased the electricity prices by Rs 1.68 per unit or up to 14 per cent and also jacked up the petroleum products prices to the new historical level of R. 137.79 per litre.
Terming the BMC budget as ‘Contract and Contractor Driven’, the Aam Aadmi Party today slammed the Shiv Sena led BMC for it’s lack of focus on improving the standard of living of Mumbaikars. That the cash rich BMC is the fountainhead of all corruption in Maharashtra, is an open secret and is validated by the lived experience of 1.5 Crore Mumbaikars.
Despite the massive revenue shortfall, the budgetary estimate for the financial year 2022-23 has been pegged at ₹45,949 crore, which is 17.10% higher than that of the budget for FY 2020-21 (₹ 39,038.83 crore).
Where is this additional money going to come from? As stated by the municipal commissioner, we will be dipping into our reserves, while also taking additional loans, thus further burdening the exchequer, without demonstrated capacity to actually spend it!
“Huge budget outlays mean nothing, when only 48% of last fiscal year 2021-2022 budget was actually utilized. This has been happening year after year, for the past several years, where the BMC has been consistently unable to spend it’s budget outlay, despite making provisions for it.
It speaks volumes of the BMC’s ineptitude and poor capacity to execute projects that have already been budgeted for. We demand that like the Delhi Govt, the BMC must also present an Outcome budget to state what was achieved in the previous year, else this entire announcement is useless”, said Ruben Mascarenhas, Mumbai Working President of the Aam Aadmi Party.
“This budget has nothing for those living in slums, who make up the vast majority of Mumbai’s population. Mumbai has poor physical infrastructure like roads, footpaths, water and sewage lines, degrading natural infrastructure and crumbling social infratructure like education, healthcare and lack of public conveniences.
One would have thought that the recent covid pandemic and its aftermath,would have served as a wake up call to the civic adminstration, but this budget has proved otherwise and is nothing a string of ‘misplaced priorities’
BMC’s allocation to the education department is ₹3370 Crores, which is a mere 7.33% of our budgent and reeks of vast underallocation.Our Govt in Delhi spends 25% of 69000 crores – 16377 crores.
That’s why Delhi’s 17 lakh+ students are thriving, while BMC schools keep closing with less than 3 lakh students left!
BMC has to think beyond these band-aid efforts of fixing a failed system. Why can’t BMC simply replicate, Delhi’s succesful model of Universal Healthcare through Mohalla clinics within 1km, where diagnostic tests and medicines are free, for every Mumbaikar?”, said Preeti Sharma Menon, National Executive member and AAP Mumbai Prabhari.
For the 20th anniversary of international career,started as a child prodigy of Gioconda Vessichelli ,a big concert will take place on 22january 2022 in South America, Aired also in television.
The famous singer Gioconda will be protagonist of an exceptional show and the three tenors and pianist will join her in this concert.
The kermess will see as anchor the daughter of the legendary and one of the most famous composer Demetrio Ortiz , for which Gioconda has recently sung and released 2 songs : “Tus Lágrimas ” and “Mis noches sin ti” with the orchestra of Maestro Sergio Cuquejo .
Places over 200 stickers in North Mumbai to raise awareness about the Shiv Sena’s failure to improve standards of living over the past 30 years*
The Aam Aadmi Party today, bestowed gold medals on Mayor Kishori Pednekar, for her phenomenal work as Mumbai’s first citizen – overseeing the destruction of city’s civic infrastructure and making the citizens’ lives more miserable than ever before. As a part of the campaign called #GoldMedalForMayor, AAP Mumbai Ward Presidents placed stickers with the caption ‘Gold Medal for Mayor’ across the suburbs, at locations which demonstrate how successful our Mayor and the Shiv Sena have been – at being incompetent, unaccountable, and unwilling to address the civic issues that plague our city.
The AAP Mumbai campaign, which witnessed over 200 stickers being placed at various locations in North Mumbai, targeted civic issues which adversely affect the quality of our daily lives – countless potholes, excessive pipeline leakages, open manholes & drains, scattered garbage, broken footpaths, dilapidated vehicles on roads, and many more – representing the BMC’s abysmal failure to fulfill its responsibilities as Mumbai’s civic body. The objective of the campaign was to garner public attention to the inability, and as some might argue, the refusal of our Mayor & the Shiv Sena to make Mumbai cleaner, safer and more liveable for the Aam Aadmi.
“Despite being in power in the BMC for the past 30 years, the Shiv Sena has remained incapable of improving Mumbai’s public toilets, road networks, drainage infrastructure, & solid waste management systems; and turned a blind eye towards the provision of essential public services like healthcare and education. In spite of being the richest civic body in India – with an annual budget of over 39,000 Crores, the BMC has silently watched, while Mumbaikars have continued to struggle due to the ineptitude and callousness of our representatives.” said Gopal Jhaveri, AAP Mumbai leader.
“Corruption in the BMC is at an all-time high, and performance is at an all-time low. Kishori Pednekar deserves a gold medal for being the worst performing Mayor of Mumbai by far. It is our appeal that Mumbaikars choose their elected representatives, keeping in mind the incompetence and apathy that we have all been witness to, for the past 30 years.” said Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP National Executive Member & Mumbai Prabhari.
Hundreds of farmers in tractors started arriving at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border as Friday marked one year of the ongoing farmers’ protest against the central laws.
Many of them brought along vegetables, sacks of flour and lentils, spices and cooking oil on their tractor-trollies, saying they have come prepared for a long haul.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), an influential farmers’ union from western Uttar Pradesh, has been leading the charge at the Ghazipur border since November last year.
The BKU is part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a farmers’ collective, which is spearheading the protest for withdrawal of three contentious farm laws and for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) of crops.
It has been a year of unmatched struggle mixed with happiness and sadness. We are fighting and winning. We will fight and win. MSP law is farmers’ right, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait tweeted in Hindi.
The outfit’s office-bearers claimed the police have been strengthening the barricading at Ghazipur border – both on the Delhi-Meerut elevated highway patch and at the UP Gate down below it — since Thursday, even as they said the crowd would swell at the protest site by evening Friday
We have a meeting of the SKM on Saturday and the future course of our action will be decided only after that.
We have planned a march towards Delhi on November 29, but SKM will take a call about it on Saturday, BKU spokesperson Saurabh Upadhyay said.
He said, Supporters in large numbers started reaching the border early Friday morning and by evening we are expecting over 50,000 people at Ghazipur alone.
A BKU supporter who reached Ghazipur in the morning from Muzaffarnagar on a tractor in a group said they have come to the protest with arrangements for food and accommodation.
It has been a year, the farmers can continue the protest for their rights for several years, the villager, draped in a shawl and a muffler, said.
Hundreds of farmers have been encamped at Delhi’s Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders since November 26, 2020, with a demand that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for crops.
PM Modi had last week announced his government’s decision to withdraw the contentious laws.
The Aam Aadmi Party today, held the Tiranga Yatra – a commemorative rally from Badi Masjid – Bandra West, to the August Kranti Maidan – Tardeo, to celebrate our Nation’s Constitution Day, and to honour the brave martyrs who lost their lives in the 26/11 Terror Attack. The procession was led by Mumbai Prabhari Preeti Sharma Menon and Pradesh Committee leaders Sumitra Shrivastav, Suresh Acharya & Ajay Singh; and witnessed the support of hundreds volunteers & citizens – who joined us in our tribute to the Indian Constitution and the 26/11 Martyrs.
26th November 2021 is the 7th Constitution Day celebration for India, and marks 72 years of the adoption of the principles upon which our Nation was conceived. It is imperative now more than ever before that we recognise the importance of upholding the values of our Constitution. Laws are being passed by overruling Parliamentary procedure, the role of our Institutions is being diminished, and local governments are being dismissed. As citizens continue seeing their rights being trampled upon, it is essential for us all to reflect upon & reaffirm our founding principles; and to express our gratitude to the Father of our Constitution – Dr. BR Ambedkar – a venerated man who stood for liberty, equity and justice.
By founding the AAP on 26th November 2012, the founding fathers of the the Aam Aadmi Party wedded each & every volunteer and leader of the AAP to the Constitution; and we pledge to uphold the Indian Constitution above all else. On the other hand, sadly for Mumbai, this day is a reminder of the horrific terror attack that the city and the country bore. The 26/11 attack led to the death of more than 150 citizens & security personnel, and the tragedy of losing the lives of loved ones can never be forgotten. “Today, as we commemorate the Constitution Day, and honour the sacrifice of those who were martyred during the 26/11 terror attacks – we must reflect upon the values that our founding principles uphold, and realise that it is in the spirit & fabric of this Country that we find the capacity to endure, to fight adversities and to overcome them together.” said Preeti Sharma Menon, National Executive Member and Mumbai Prabhari.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday met party chief Sonia Gandhi amid speculation over Cabinet reshuffle and organisation rejig in Rajasthan.
His meeting came a day after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Gandhi here and the two leaders are learnt to have discussed the political situation as well as the impending cabinet reshuffle in the state.
Speaking with reporters after meeting Gandhi, Pilot said, “Whatever the Congress party wants me to do, I am more than happy to do. In the last 20 years, whatever job has been assigned, I have done it diligently and now also whatever the party decides, what role I have…I am happy to do it.”
“I am happy Mrs Gandhi took feedback from all of us. I think at the right time, AICC general secretary Mr (Ajay) Maken will take an appropriate decision viz-a-viz Rajasthan,” the former deputy chief minister said.
A major reshuffle is on the cards in Rajasthan in the next few days and various modalities are being worked out by adopting the “one man, one post” formula while considering appointments in the cabinet, according to sources.
Pilot for long has been demanding that Cabinet expansion should happen and appointments to boards and corporations in the state be made soon. He has been asserting that Congress workers and leaders working closely with him for the party should be given their dues.
Pilot and the MLAs supporting him had revolted against Gehlot last year over his style of functioning, after which Pilot was removed from the posts of the state party chief and the Rajasthan deputy chief minister.
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