Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has said that priority should be given to providing financial resources so that urban bodies can provide basic facilities uninterruptedly to the citizens. The functioning of the bodies strengthens the image of the state government. Minister Vijayvargiya was addressing the meeting of officials of Finance and Urban Development Department in Mantralaya on Wednesday.
Vijayvargiya directed that there should be no deduction at the state level from the amount of octroi compensation payable to the urban bodies. A system should be developed so that the urban bodies themselves deposit the amount of electricity bill to the electricity companies. He said that the Finance Department should soon release the amount of basic State Finance Commission, road maintenance and stamp duty which amounts to Rs 1000 crore. He told the urban bodies under UIDF to immediately release an amount of Rs 500 crore for the completion of AMRUT Yojana. Secretary Finance said that necessary action will be taken in this matter within a week.
The Urban Development Department has proposed to the Finance Department to implement the scheme of 552 e-buses to strengthen the urban transport service in 6 major cities of the state. Urban Development Minister Vijayvargiya said that other states have given guarantee in this scheme, similar guarantee should be given by the Finance Department in the state also. The Finance Department told that the list of service tax amount imposed on various government departments of urban bodies should be made available on the basis of which, efforts will be made by the Finance Department to provide the said amount soon.
It was also decided in the meeting that the state’s share for the sanctioned amount of Rs 350 crore regarding Metro Rail should be released soon. It was decided in the meeting that a standard procedure should be decided regarding the implementation of capital item schemes by the urban bodies and issued to all the urban bodies. Officials of the Urban Development Department requested for the approval to authorize MPUDC for taking loan under Chief Minister’s Urban Infrastructure Fourth Phase to be issued soon. The Urban Development Minister directed the Finance Department to resolve the departmental proposal regarding giving gratuity to the employees of the New Pension Scheme within a week.
Action on Sankalp-2023
Instructions were given in the meeting that to ensure action on Sankalp-2023 related to urban development, the Finance Department should take immediate decisions on the pending proposals. Secretary Finance Gyaneshwar Patil, Commissioner Urban Administration and Development Bharat Yadav and departmental officers were present in the meeting.
