A Centre for Urban Excellence will be set up in the State where people’s representatives and officers should undergo training, said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Speaking on the new Telangana Municipalities Bill, 2019, passed in the Legislative Assembly here on Friday, he said that Telangana was a rapidly growing State with about 55% of urbanisation. There was a need for comprehensive urban policy and people’s representatives should have proper understanding of the policy. The Centre would come up on a 25-acre land, he said.
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said that was the reason he insisted that the municipal elections be held only after the new Municipalities Act was passed. Aspirants contesting the elections should read the Act and understand what was expected of them, their responsibilities and accountability and then only contest.
The Chief Minister emphasised that there would not be dearth of funds for local bodies, and apart from ₹1,030 crore provided by the 14th Finance Commission, the State would give a matching grant totalling ₹2,060 crore. The rural local bodies would have ₹1,600 crore from the Finance Commission and matching grant from the State totalling to ₹3,200 crore. Apart from this, local bodies would have their own income from property tax, etc.
Continuous process
“This Act is the result of quest for excellence and reforms were a continuous process and Acts should be relevant to contemporary times”.
District Collectors were given ample powers to regulate the functioning of municipalities and at present there was no regulation of municipal budgets and their expenditure. The District Collector would be involved in budget preparation. Under the new Act, 10% budget should go for green expenditure in every urban local body and funds in the charged account should be used to pay power and water bills promptly every month. Otherwise, the job of Municipal Commissioners would be at stake.
In cities like Hyderabad and Warangal, integrated and satellite townships would be encouraged. Amenities like public toilets, vegetable markets, burial and cremation grounds in Hyderabad and other cities should be provided on priority, he said.
A 60-member Civic Committee would be constituted in every municipality with people from various walks of life and every third month, Praja Durbar would be held in every ward to know people’s issues and ensure that they were addressed. The ward councillor would be responsible to raise specific number of plants and saplings would be supplied. Failure to increase greenery would invite stern action against the officer and councillor concerned, he said.
