Nagpur: As the city confronts a looming water crisis triggered by deficient rainfall — with reservoir levels dropping sharply and the civic administration scrambling to conserve supplies — Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) plans to spend Rs 1.48 crore on purchasing 365 Android tablets for its corporators and officials. The move has reignited debate over the civic body’s spending priorities, especially since an earlier attempt to distribute tablets reportedly ended with most devices either failing or lying unused.The agenda for Standing Committee meeting was issued on Tuesday. The proposal is slated for approval at the meeting scheduled for Friday. The proposal estimates the total expenditure at Rs 1.48 crore, including taxes, with each tablet costing Rs 38,999. The procurement will be carried out through e-tendering.As per the proposal, the tablets — fitted with digital pens — will be provided to the mayor, deputy mayor, Standing Committee chairperson, ruling and opposition leaders, corporators across parties, and municipal officials such as department heads, executive engineers and junior engineers. The information technology department has justified the purchase by pointing to the growing reliance on the work module, e-office system, MIS portal, video conferencing and other technical software, all of which require such devices for smooth online operations. The municipal commissioner cleared the proposal on Oct 13.The civic body has also pointed to the discontinuation of its earlier laptop supply service as a reason for switching to tablets. The municipal house went on to approve the procurement proposal.Yet the earlier experience casts a shadow over the fresh initiative. During the tenure of former Standing Committee chairperson Avinash Thakre, tablets were bought and distributed among corporators. The agenda note itself admits that most of those devices eventually stopped working, while several corporators struggled to use them effectively. Notably, the new proposal offers no clarity on how the civic body intends to ensure the latest devices are put to proper use.The timing has also raised eyebrows. Totladoh reservoir, Nagpur’s main water source, fell to just 31.34% of its live storage capacity on Oct 31 — a steep decline from 92.42% on the same date last year. With drought-like conditions prevailing and pressing needs such as water conservation, leakage control and essential civic infrastructure demanding funds, the proposed spending has sparked fresh concerns over accountability and how taxpayers’ money is being prioritised.
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