GVMC budget meet on Feb. 4: YSRCP corporators confirm attendance

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation budget meeting for the financial year 2025-26 will be held on February 4. Amid speculation that the YSR Congress Party may boycott the meeting, corporators ruled out such a move and said they would attend it in the larger public interest.

A meeting of GVMC corporators was held with senior leaders, during which it was decided that all corporators should participate in the budget meeting and hold discussions on allocations to various departments and wings, former Deputy Mayor J. Sridhar said.

It may be recalled that the Standing Committee of the GVMC had already approved the budget estimates for 2025-26 at a special meeting held on January 12.

As per the approved estimates, the opening balance for the forthcoming financial year has been pegged at ₹36,596 lakh. Receipts under various heads are projected at ₹3,81,441 lakh, taking the total receipts, including the opening balance, to ₹4,18,037 lakh. On the expenditure side, the civic body has proposed spending ₹4,04,712 lakh under various heads. After accounting for the expenditure, the closing balance for the year is expected to stand at ₹13,325.57 lakh.

The budget meeting assumes significance as it is likely to be the final meeting of the present GVMC council. The term of the existing council is scheduled to end on March 17, 2026. The current council was constituted in March 2021.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of the budget meeting, the GVMC has reportedly distributed gift coupons worth ₹25,000 each to corporators, sources said.

Corporator of Ward 22 from the Jana Sena Party, P.L.V.N. Murthy, and Corporator of Ward 78 from the CPI(M), B. Ganga Rao, announced that they would return the gift coupons. Mr. Murthy said that in a democracy, elected representatives are servants of the people and that distributing gift coupons to corporators using public funds amounts to misuse of taxpayers’ money. He said the ₹25,000 could have been better utilised for environmental protection measures in the city and urged the authorities to discontinue the practice of distributing such gifts to corporators during the budget season.