Chennai Corporation spent Rs 50 cr on advertisements

Chennai Corporation spent Rs 50 cr on advertisements

[ Date : Mar 10th, 2011 ]


The Chennai Corporation has spent a Rs 50 crore in the last five years towards advertisement cost. This included tenders, and repeated tenders, as contractors failed to show up in the initial rounds due to rise in prices of construction items. The administration, however, said the increased spend on advertisements reflected its increased infrastructure development.

In its reply to the city-based RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan, the local body said Rs 17 crore was spent towards advertisement charges in 2008-2009. The expenditure was Rs 14.8 crore in 2007-2008. In the previous two fiscals, it spent Rs 13 crore. At the end of its last fiscal of its previous term, the AIADMK-led elected council managed spent only Rs 1.35 crore under this head.

The RTI reply said the department availed only budgetary allocations. The civic budget has a separate provision for advertisement charges and the council had cleared the expenses every year. “It only proves the fact that infrastructure development has really taken place,” a senior official said.

One of the probable reasons for the increased expenditure on advertisements is the poor response from contractors for several projects, forcing the corporation to repeat tender advertisements. Contractors had stayed away from work after price of construction materials increased in 2007. There were instances, when the civic body had to issue more than five tenders for a project, for want of contractors. If an automated parking system at Broadway terminus demanded four calls, modernization of Perambur abattoir required several more calls.

The local body is relying heavily on property tax collection this fiscal to meet expenses arising out of the sixth pay commission recommendations. The budgetary provisions for this year show that a Rs 510 crore is required for implementing pay commission recommendations to hundreds of civic staff, even as the revenue department is likely to raise only Rs 410 crore under the property tax head. The agency is now eyeing external funding agencies for loans for various works.

Sources said Rs 1,378.4 crore worth development works had taken place during the last five years. “It is sad that a large part of the money is used for advertisements, when allotment for basic services for urban poor got cancelled” said A Subramani, a CPI councillor. This is because; many beneficiaries could not shell out their share of cost to construct a tiny house.