The State Finance Commission has come down heavily on the local bodies in the district saying that they failed to give utmost priority to the basic needs of citizens.
At a sitting at the District Collectorate here on Wednesday to review the financial position of three-tier local bodies in the district, commission chairman B.A. Prakash said that the municipalities and grama panchayats failed to give concern to solid waste management, sanitation at public markets, mosquito eradication, public toilets, slaughter houses, crematoriums, waiting shelters, and parking needs. The local bodies had not given top priority to curtail the menace of street dogs.
The commission also felt that local bodies always found an easy way of securing funds from the State government instead of collecting its own revenue and strengthening resources from entertainment tax, advertisement tax, property tax, rent, and licence fee.
The commission reviewed and elicited suggestions from the representatives of Thurayur, Thamarassery, Kayanna, and Purameri grama panchayats, Kunnamangalam block panchayat, Vadakara municipality, and Kozhikode district panchayat.
However, these representatives said that the withdrawal of revised property tax by the State government last year had adversely impacted the income of the local bodies. The stringent measures and objections adopted by the local fund audit had also affected the implementation of projects.
They also complained that the shortage of clerical staff had hit collection of tax and implementation of schemes. Activities related to electrical works had also been hit on account of the dearth of electrical engineers. The representatives also demanded that the State government allocate additional funds when institutions were upgraded.
Opposition from the local people and non-availability of land led to delay in projects. Commission secretary T.K. Soman was also present at the sitting. Instead of using the random sample method, the sitting has been carried out by selecting 105 local bodies at the district centres.
The State Finance Commission is constituted under the Constitution of India and the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and the Kerala Municipality Act. The Commission has the mandate to review the financial position of panchayats and municipalities and make recommendations as to the distribution of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls, and fees.
