Kozhikode Corporation budget turns focus on revenue generation, efficient service delivery

Deputy Mayor C.P.Musafar Ahamed presents annual budget with surplus of ₹31.95 crore; objective to make Kozhikode one of the most liveable cities

Revenue generation and efficient delivery of the Corporation’s services remain the focal areas of the Kozhikode Corporation’s annual budget for 2023-24 presented by Deputy Mayor C.P.Musafar Ahamed on Monday. The expected revenue of the Corporation this year is ₹951.86 crore while the expenditure has been estimated at ₹919.90 crore, with a surplus of ₹31.95 crore.

Sketching the objective of the Corporation to convert Kozhikode into one of the most liveable cities by focusing on clean water, housing, livelihood, sanitation, good roads, clean public spaces, good health care, quality education and elderly friendliness, the Deputy Mayor highlighted the need to develop the city in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

The Corporation intends to raise its income by paying more attention to its revenue and expenditure in a variety of ways, including collecting taxes without fail and plugging tax leaks through intense scrutiny.

Meanwhile, a mobile application will be introduced to offer most of the Corporation services online, while the website will be revamped with more facilities. The K-SMART project of Information Kerala Mission is expected to ease file tracking. The civic body will come up with a financial management policy, by which progress and expenditure of projects will be monitored every three months. It also plans to bring out a monthly news bulletin to highlight its activities.

The Corporation plans to form a professional management company under public-private partnership for management and security of public spaces such as parks, toilets, auditoriums, health centres and offices. The Nagarasanchayam project for the renovation of 42 canals and 27 ponds and a project to develop select roads as smart roads, with the one from the Corporation office to C.H. Flyover being developed as a model road, are other important proposals in the budget. A city square will be constructed as a model public space with facilities for exhibitions, observatory, offices and commercial spaces.

The Deputy Mayor also presented the revised budget for the financial year 2022-23.