Over ₹100 crore in West Bengal government funds, allocated for councillors at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), will revert to the state treasury after going unspent — a direct consequence of the civic body's board dissolution following the resignation of Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim on 3 June, a senior government official confirmed on Monday, 13 July.

Why the Funds Could Not Be Spent

The KMC's municipal board was dissolved last month after Hakim's resignation, leaving all 144 wards without elected councillors. With no councillors in place, project recommendations have stalled entirely. The 16 borough committees and the Mayor's Council have not convened since the dissolution, leaving engineers unable to process proposals for road repairs, water supply upgrades, drainage works, street lighting, and park maintenance under the 'councillor development' and 'maintenance' fund heads.

Notably, work on ongoing major drinking water purification and drainage projects has also reportedly come to a standstill as a result of the administrative vacuum.

No Spending Window Before Elections

Senior KMC engineers say there is virtually no possibility of disbursing the allocated amount before the financial year closes. Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections are scheduled for the end of November, with a new board expected to be constituted only in December. The corporation's finance department has formally acknowledged that more than ₹100 crore from the councillor fund will be returned to the state treasury in accordance with government financial rules.

What the Administrator Said

KMC Commissioner and current Administrator Smita Pandey sought to provide reassurance, stating: 'The construction and repair work that has already been allocated for various projects in different wards will go on as usual.' Her remarks suggest that pre-approved project work will continue even as fresh proposals remain frozen.

Political Reactions

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) municipal party leader at the KMC, Meena Devi Purohit, alleged that the board would not have been dissolved had the Mayor not resigned. 'Otherwise, all the councillors could have spent the funds. Now the entire fund will go back to the government's coffers,' she said.

Left Front municipal party leader Madhuchanda Dev raised a longer-term concern, warning that unspent allocations could reduce per-ward budgets in the next financial year. 'As money is not spent according to the rules, the allocation per ward may be less in the next financial year. Although there have been exceptional administrative complications this year, the state government will definitely think about it,' she said.

Background on the Councillor Development Fund

The 'councillor development' fund was introduced in the mid-1990s to finance the maintenance and repair of civic assets and the creation of permanent infrastructure across Kolkata's wards. Its lapse this year marks a significant disruption to ward-level development spending — the kind that directly affects residents' daily civic experience. With KMC elections now the only path to restoring normal budgetary functioning, the situation is likely to remain in political focus through the end of the year.