The Congress government in Punjab on Tuesday decided to get a third-party technical and financial audit done by some reputed firms of all municipal works valuing over Rs 10 crore, undertaken in the past three years, to identify lapses and take appropriate action as needed.
This was decided at a meeting of the local Government Department, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, attended by local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, besides senior officials.
The Government will get the proposed audit done by well-known external firms such as PWC, Deloitte, E&Y, McKinzie, KPMG, etc, to be completed within 30 days of award of the audit work. The RPF will be issued in the first week of May, an official spokesperson said after the meeting.
It was also decided at the meeting to undertake concurrent 3rd party audit of all major municipal works in the future, along with a social audit. Regular checking and monitoring of all such works will be done by the State Government.
The Government has also decided to go in for e-governance, in a phased manner, across all the key services of the department in order to enhance efficiency, accountability and speed, and also to reduce costs, ensure easy and quick implementation of all decisions, and build trust with the citizens.
Addressing the meeting, Sidhu said e-governance would eliminate corruption to a great extent by reducing human interface, especially in matters of clearances, licences etc.
The meeting also decided to launch a series of reform measures to streamline and expedite progress on all urban development mission programmes in the State. The Chief Minister directed the department to prepare and notify the Draft Model Building Byelaws, along with a policy for waste water
recycling.
In another significant measure to bring in transparency, it has been decided to migrate completely to the Double Entry System, for which a new municipal account will be prepared and notified.
The Chief Minister also directed filling up of at least 50% sanctioned municipal cadre posts in all the 16 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation) towns of the State.
Earlier, in a presentation to the Chief Minister on ‘Agenda for Good Governance’, the department officials pointed out that the municipal corporations were not maintaining account books, as a result of which they had no accountability with respect to revenue and expenditure.
The meeting stressed the need for financial discipline to tackle the problems faced by the department and push urban development in the State, which has witnessed a massive increase in urban population in recent years. It was also decided to create greater synergies for better coordination between the various agencies involved in urban development, said the spokesperson.
BIO GAS ENERGY GENERATION TO ElIMINATE STUBBlE BURNING, GARBAGE
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh has directed the local Government department to explore production of bio mass energy by mixing stubble with garbage in order to eliminate the problems of garbage accumulation in cities as well stubble burning.
He said large-scale production of bio mass energy could prove to be an effective solution to the twin problems of stubble burning and the heaps of garbage that are seen to accumulate in the cities.
The total solid waste generation in the State stands at 4250 tons per day and the state is divided into eight clusters for effective solid waste management. This enables common centralised processing facilities and sanitary land filling, which is beneficial for urban local bodies on account of the land constraints, besides being cost-effective.
PUNJAB GOVT TO TABlE NEW WATER BIllING POlICY BEFORE CABINET FOR APPROVAl
To streamline water usage and billing, and bring down water losses in the State, Punjab local Government Department is all set to present to the State cabinet some important policy notifications for its approval.
The Minister in charge, Navjot Singh Sidhu, would lay the notifications before the cabinet at its next meeting to take its approval for
implementation.
The Water Meter Policy will ensure at least 90% billing on water supply and sewerage charges and also provide for making an action plan to reduce water losses to less than 20% and publish the same on the official website.
The Minister will also seek approval for adoption of a policy on user charges for individual and institutional assessments, in which a differential rate is charged for water use and adequate safeguards are included to take care of the interests of the vulnerable.
These policy initiatives, he said, were part of the State Government’s efforts to bring urban development mission work on track and ensure 100% basic civic amenities for the citizens of Punjab.