Hyderabad: When every circle is collecting tax from its households (circles having their own taxation), why is the tax money being used as common funds for projects, instead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation utilising the money for the circle itself?
Resident Welfare Association members complain that only the west side of the city is being developed while the north, central and south zones are being deprived. No GHMC deputy or zonal commissioner has a balance-sheet of the tax amount collected.
Ashwinnallari Naidu, secretary of the United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations, said, “All tax payers in the respective circles feel that the taxes they collect should be spent in their circles and not go into the collective pool. The GHMC collects taxes from all 18 circles and spends it only on the circle with the maximum defaulters, namely, Circle 10, Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Khairatabad and Prashasannagar. Roads, flyovers, Metro Rail and other forms of developments are only for these defaulters. Citizens from other circles are angry with the GHMC’s partisan attitude.”
Till date, the GHMC accounts have not been audited and the United Federation of RWA wonders why the civic body is collecting taxes and how it is accounting for the same. The RWAs say that the GHMC should be using accrual method of acccounting as employed by the Bengaluru Municipal Development Authority.
The federation of RWAs says RWAs should be involved in circle management and allocation of funds from taxes collected.
Decision-making powers should not be given to corporators and members in the GHMC, and RWAs should be empowered in the decision-making process and be made accountable. External and internal auditors have to be in place for all the public taxes collection and deposit systems.
