Content
Undertaking ii
Acknowledgments v
Abstract viii
Table of contents xi
List of figures xv
List of tables xi
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Need for Study 1
1.3 Aims & Objectives 2
1.4 Research Questions 2
1.5 Research Methodology 3
2 UNDERSTANDING MUNICIPAL BUDGETING 5
2.1 Constitution of ULBs in Maharashtra 5
2.1.1 Classification of Municipal Areas 6
2.2 What are the various functions of Municipal Council in Maharashtra? 7
2.3 Understanding Municipal Budgeting 9
2.3.1 Components of Municipal Budget 10
2.3.2 What are the sources of income of Municipal Bodies? 11
2.3.3 How are Municipal Budgets organised? 12
2.3.4 What is a budget cycle ? 12
2.4 Budgets as Planning Tools 13
2.5 Budgets as tools for fiscal discipline and control 14
2.6 Budgets as instrument of transparency 14
2.7 Best Practices 15
2.7.1 Case of Karnataka: Improving Transparency in Budget 15
2.7.2 Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil 15
2.7.3 Gender Budgeting in South Africa 16
2.7.4 Concept of Zonal Budget: Case of Ahmedabad 17
2.8 Review of Budget Preparation Process “According to Maharashtra Municipal Council , Nagarpanchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965” 17
2.9 Initiatives by DMA 19
3 CITY PROFILE 20
3.1 City Location & Demographics 20
3.2 Institutional Structure 21
3.3 Framework for assessment 23
4 BUDGET FORMULATION PROCESS 24
4.1 Budget Process 24
4.1.1 Budget Preparation Process in Wai & Sinnar 24
4.1.2 Challenges in Budget Making in Wai & Sinnar 28
5 Understanding the Budget 29
5.1 Budget Size 29
5.2 Per Capita Budget is less than the average per capita budget for Municipal Council 30
5.3 Organisation of Municipal Budgets 32
5.3.1 Revenue Income 32
5.3.2 Revenue Expenditure 33
5.3.3 Summary 34
5.4 Key Budget Assessment Parameters 34
5.5 Budget documents are not transparent and readable 34
5.5.1 Budget formats are non-uniform 34
5.5.2 Discrepancy is observed in revenue records: 35
5.5.3 Recasting is the first step 36
5.5.4 Lack of transparency in monitoring of budgets 38
5.6 Key Challenge 38
5.7 Effectiveness of Budget 39
5.7.1 Overestimation of revenue income in budget leading to over expenditure 39
5.7.2 Municipal Councils have higher dependency on revenue grants 42
5.8 Municipal Councils do not have flexibility in utilising grants 44
5.9 Avenues of Participation 46
5.9.1 Budget Allocation is done for potential users however, they remain un-utilsed: 46
5.9.2 Potential Users of Participation in Budget 48
5.10 No guidelines for spending on revenue expenditure 49
5.11 Maximum spending of Councils on administration expense 50
6 Conclusion & Way Forward 51
6.1 Conclusion 51
6.2 Recommendations 52
7 References 55
Appendix 1: Questionnaire 57