India News | Provisions on Devolution of Functions to Urban Local Bodies Not Backed by Actions: CAG Report in Himachal Assembly
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Himachal government made legal provisions for the devolution of functions to urban local bodies but these were not backed by action, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in the state assembly on Monday.
Shimla, Apr 3 (PTI) The Himachal government made legal provisions for the devolution of functions to urban local bodies but these were not backed by action, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in the state assembly on Monday.
The report was on the efficacy of the implementation of the 74th Constitution Amendment Act (CAA).
The performance report for the period April 2015 to March 2020 pointed out that the state government amended the HP Municipal Corporation Act and HP Municipal Act to comply with the 74 Constitutional Amendment Act to empower urban local bodies (ULBs).
But these amendments were not supported by firm action defeating the spirit of the Constitutional amendment.
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Out of eighteen functions, seventeen functions were devolved to ULBs but ULBs were solely responsible for five functions, the report said.
They were merely the implementing agency for four functions and had limited roles in six functions due to overlapping jurisdiction of state departments and had no role for two functions.
Against 3,640 prescribed meetings, only 173 meetings of Standing Committees were held in Solan and Nahan Municipal Council and Sunni Nagar Panchayat while no meeting was held in 11 ULBs, the report said.
It said that ward committees were not set up in any ULB, except Shimla Municipal Corporation where these were formed in 31 out of 34 wards but only one meeting was held against the required 505 meetings.
The authority to collect certain taxes like property tax was vested with ULBs but the powers pertaining to the rates and revision thereof, method of assessment, and exemptions were with the state government and there was no uniformity in the method of levying the property tax.
Surveys to enumerate the properties were not as per schedule. Also digitising of property databases using Geographic Information System (GIS) and automating property tax calculations was not put in place for all the ULBS.
The recovery on account of property tax (Rs 14.69 crore), conservancy tax (Rs 3.82 crore), and rent from commercial establishments ( Rs 10.66 crore) was outstanding, the report said. PTI/BPL
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)