Labour Minister and Dharwad district in-charge Santosh Lad has said that he will take up with the Chief Minister the issue of formulating a law to streamline the allocation of grants in a systematic manner in local bodies and also in government departments.
He was chairing a review meeting on various development works of Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) in Hubballi on Monday where several of the municipal council members raised their voice against the indiscriminate manner in which funds were allocated.
Raising the issue, BJP councillor Thippanna Majjagi pointed out that funds under 15th State Finance Commission have not been distributed uniformly.
“Earlier the Mayor, the Opposition Leader and te Floor Leader used to finalise together allocations based on priority and this procedure was followed this time also. However, now several changes have been made in allocations,” he said.
Responding to the charge, MLA Prasad Abbayya said that as several councillors have complained that several projects have been approved without any discussion and that they have not received any grants for their wards, he advised change of projects.
He said that every ward should get funds equally and if project implementation got delayed, then HDMC will not get any performance grant. For the last two-three years, the municipal corporation has not received any performance grant, he said.
The former Mayor Viranna Savadi said that as meetings of all party leaders are not being held on development works, they are facing problems and urged Mr. Abbayya to chair such meetings to resolve the issues.
While Independent councillor Chetan Hirekerur complained about wards represented by Independent candidates not receiving any grant, BJP councillor Shivu Menasinakai stressed the need for expediting the process of giving approval as once the Lok Sabha elections are announced, there will not be any release of funds due to the poll code of conduct.
BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginakai emphasised the need for all 82 councillors working together to facilitate the overall development of the twin cities.
Suggesting that the municipal councillors resolve the discrepancies in fund allocation through discussion, Mr. Lad said that he will be forced to reject the proposal submitted to the State government and they will have to prepare the action plan again.
No additional funds
The Minister also clarified that there will be no additional funds during the current fiscal but he will make efforts to bring additional funds in the next budget.
Mr. Lad also asked the municipal councillors to come up with steps to generate the corporation’s own revenue and for it to become self-reliant.
Mr. Lad, however, did not agree to the proposal made by councillor Viranna Savadi on the sale of corporation property to generate revenue.
Instead, he suggested development of the municipal property through joint ventures so that HDMC has a regular source of income instead of one-time revenue.
He also suggested GPS mapping to trace unregistered water supply connections and thereafter, taking steps to regularise them to generate revenue for the local body.
