For overall development of the slums in urban areas, the State Government has asked all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to spend at least 25% of their annual budgets mandatorily. Over Rs 723 crore should be spent in the slum areas in two years, 2020-21 and 2021-22. Director of Municipal Administration Sangramjit Nayak has written a letter to the Municipal Commissioners and Executive Officers of all ULBs in this connection. In August last year, the Government had made an amendment to the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 & Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003 which say that “a sum not less than 25 per centum of the amount under capital expenditure relating to development work of annual budget for the purpose of providing basic services and infrastructure to slum”.
In this regard, the ULBs have been asked to take the above amendment into account while preparing a yearly budget and mandatorily spend 25% of the budgets in the slum areas by providing basic services and infrastructure to slum and on other ongoing schemes related to slums, Nayak informed. The ULB officers have been instructed to regularly monitor the spending for the purpose by assigning a quarterly target. As per an estimation made by the Housing and Urban Development Department, Rs 2895 crore (excluding salaries) would be allocated to the State’s 114 ULBs during the two financial years (2020 to 22). The amount includes State Finance Commission and Central Finance Commission grants. So, 25% means Rs 723.75 crore must be spent for the slum areas’ development.