Amidst the din and bustle of election sloganeering for Ranchi Municipal elections on 8th April 2013, the contestants though humming a discordant note of rivalry, strike a harmonious chord in their voter moorings. A model city on the platter of promises together with a magic wand fixing every mal-functioning civic amenity is being pledged by contestants by and large. These are promises a tad hard to achieve with the teeny-weeny resource that the municipal coffer collects.
Own revenue generation of RMC for FY 2012-13 was 28.5 crores whereas its establishment cost is 20 crores. Finance is the key to implement development initiatives that the local bodies are entrusted with. “The biggest challenge confronting the newly elected Mayor and ward councilors would be to chart out sustainable financial strategies, net new potential sources of revenue, ask for its fair share from various State Govt. departments and salient among all is to plug the pilferage in revenue collections”, opines Ajay Nath Shahdeo, the ex-Dy Mayor RMC.
An important and stable source of municipal revenue is the ‘Holding Tax’ that encompasses an array of property based taxes. Divulging the details, RMC official Sunil Kumar Singh points, “Only 88,000 houses falling under RMC jurisdiction are covered under holding tax. Urgent initiative to net nearly 60,000 more dwellings under the Nagar Nigam tax umbrella will be our prime focus”. Further highlighting a potent source of revenue to be tapped, he says, “laying a massive network of water supply pipelines to all the households and collecting resultant water tax would increase the revenue of RMC”. Presently only 20% houses enjoy water supply. Quick fixing a gap of existing 70% water connections will lead to multifold increase in revenue besides offering breather to parched ground water and the residents above. In a new move to raise its resources, the RMC has decided to issue license to business establishments being run in residential plots by levying license fee and loading heavy fines on truant tenants and house owners. They are also moving ahead in charging tax on hoardings even in private houses.
Unpaid arrears and under assessment are reasons for skewed collection. However, legal hassles of CNT Act violations may drag the regularizing process. Ex-Dy Mayor Shahdeo on a pragmatic note suggested ID proof or Aadhar cards of occupants and owners be used as authentic props to wrap households evading the municipal tax net.
Rental key proceeds (salami) of markets and sale of land owned by City Corporation constitute a lucrative source of revenue. Promising schemes for up gradation and construction of markets at par with international standard, multi level parking zones and modern bus stands are at the pinnacle of priority list of RMC. Reliable sources confirm that future plans of an upcoming commercial hub on 7 acres land in Bakhri Bazaar and development of Daily Market on PPP module with RMC sitting comfortable with 51% share is on the anvil. Efforts are on by RMC into procuring prime land in the heart of the City and Sadhu Maidan for creating prized property. An ambitious project, presently eclipsed by litigation, the Apollo Chennai Hospital is slated to come up on 3 acres in Ghagra. An understanding for treating 5 to 10% BPl patients has been reached with the hospital administration. Decking up schemes rolled out by RMC has borne fruit. Khadgarha Bus Stand reserve money, 80 lakhs last fiscal, rose to more than 100 lakhs this fiscal. Demolition and construction afresh of Town Hall is due to commence in three months.
A2Z Company entrusted with sanitation of Ranchi civic area often come under fire for delinquency in collection and disposal of solid waste. However, they admit to capability of generating a crore as revenue, presently
being 30 lakhs for RMC through surcharge on garbage collection. Reluctance of people to pay for utility services presses the need for empowering the City Corp. to take legal action against the defaulters and impose fines.
Creating facilities for online payments and introduction of a ‘mobile tax collection van’ since a half and one month by RMC is a laudable endeavour. Revamping the chocked sewerage using cutting edge technology would be a heart winning master stroke of nouveau RMC team.