CHENNAI: The utilisation of ward development fund by councillors in Chennai Corporation has dwindled with the rise in allocation of funds during the last four years.The Transparent Chennai study pointed out that while there has been a significant rise in allocation of ward development fund from Rs. 7 lakh in 2007-08 to Rs. 15 lakh in 2008-09, Rs. 25 lakh in 2009-10 and Rs. 30 lakh now, the utilisation of the funds decreased significantly with each increase.Interestingly, in 2007-08 when the allocation was Rs. 7 lakh, 70 per cent of funds were utilised by the councillors. However, in 2008-09 when it was raised to 15 lakh, there was a fall in utilisation as only 63.50 per cent of funds were used. Similarly in 2009-10, when the fund was raised to Rs. 25 lakh, a councillor on an average used only 40.60 per cent of funds.Surprisingly, the Mayor’s Special Development Fund also received a sharp increase in allocation from Rs. 50 lakh in 2007-08 to Rs. 2 crore in 2009-10. But spending from the fund has been dismal, and steadily decreasing, both as a percentage of the total and in actuals. In 2009-10, only a mere 4.9 per cent of the funds were spent. Though the numbers are small relative to the total city budget, the Mayor could have done a better job of spending it.The systematic under-utilisation of funds by both the councillors and the mayor suggests that either a concerted effort is needed to educate elected representatives and residents about this money, or that the process for spending the money needs to be made simpler.
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