Punjab local Bodies department on Sunday disbursed grant-in-aid worth Rs 402.08 crore to all 145 local bodies of the State to compensate them for the loss of octroi. The grant is meant for overall development of the cities, said the State local Bodies Minister Chunni lal Bhagat.
The Minister said that the grant-in-aid was provided to the local bodies out of the collection of the value added tax (VAT). “Funds are provided to the local Government for the first quarter of the current financial year 2013-14 and in total Rs 402.08 crore has been disbursed to the local Government,” he added.
Bhagat said that the respective local Bodies included Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Panchayats would use this grant for providing better basic amenities and setting up modern infrastructure.
The Minister, while divulging the detail of the amount disbursed to the different local Bodies, said that Municipal Corporation ludhiana has been disbursed an amount of Rs 99.77 crore, Municipal Corporation Jalandhar Rs 42.09 crore, Municipal Corporation Amritsar Rs 35.39 crore, Municipal Corporation Bathinda Rs 17.98 crore, Municipal Corporation Mohali Rs 13.93 crore and Municipal Corporation Patiala has been provided the financial assistance of Rs 9.77 crore.
Bhagat reiterated the SAD-BJP Government’s resolve to enact total facelift of all the cities by providing the citizen basic amenities coupled with ultra modern infrastructure.