DF Govt to stop monetary aid to civic bodies

Even the erstwhile Sena-BJP government had declared that financial assistance will be granted to all the 227 urban local organisations for a period of five years and in between, a new scheme would be drafted to replace octroi. “Instead of waiting for five years, we have proposed to replace octroi either by turnover tax or cess. The proposal is under consideration of the Joint Select Committee of both Houses of the State Legislature,” Tatkare told The Indian Express.

However, he said it wwould be difficult to replace octroi with any other mode of tax in the areas of municipal corporations. “The entire economy of the corporations is dependent on octroi. Under such circumstances, unless there is a concrete alternative, octroi will not be abolished,” he added.

On the financial situation of the municipal councils, Tatkari said, by and large, the urban local organisations are well managed. However, as a precautionary measure, his government has given specific instructions on curbing establishment cost. “We have asked the municipal councils to take stringent measures to curb the cost of establishment. If the cost of establishment is more than 42 per cent, then we have asked the Director of Municipal Administration to initiate necessary action to curb the expenditure,” Tatkare added.

In such cases, Tatkare said, the Director of Municipal Administration will not grant permission for recruitment of additional posts. “Under the existing laws, the council has to take prior permission before filing up any post. In case of erring councils, we will refuse permission,” he said.

Secondly, all the councils have been asked to review the property tax, water cess and other taxes every four years. “When we took review of the financial situation, we found that several councils had not revised the taxes during the last 20 to 25 years. Such populist measures will not help as it will adversely affect the financial situation of the councils. We have asked for upward revision every foru years,” he said.

On the developmental projects undertaken by the councils vis-a-vis resource crunch, Tatkare said after the Congress-led Democratic Front government assumed power, it has introduced a new policy of constructing a new project on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. “A section of the municipal councils have already approached the government with specific projects,” he said.

In another policy decision, Tatkare said an independent cadre of Class I and II officials of all the 227 municipal councils will be prepared soon. “We feel that the jobs of Class I and II officials should be transferable at least in the revenue division. To some extent, this will help us to improve the administration. When transfer policy is accepted in all sectors, I feel that municipal councils should not be an exception to it,” he remarked.