Blow to MC as MHA turns down request for grant

Time of India

3 days ago

Chandigarh: In a major blow to the municipal corporation and Chandigarh administration, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has turned down the administration's request for a Rs 188 crore grant for the cash-strapped MC.
The administration sought the grant so that the civic body could resume its functions and stalled development works.
In a bid to provide some relief to the MC, the administration made the request after assessing the its requirement. But it was not considered.
"The Chandigarh administration sought additional funds for the MC under the specific 'contingency segment' from the MHA and asked the ministry to convince the department of expenditure, ministry of finance, to release the amount under the segment. The ministry assessed that the request was not suitable for the contingency nature and turned
was thus turned down.
The financial request was assessed at the higher level of the MHA and turned down after going through all the required parameters," sources said.
Sources in the Chandigarh administration said that the Rs 70 crore released by the Centre under the contingency segment a few months ago was used to make an important payment to a private company. they added that had the payment not been made, repercussions for the Chandigarh administration would have been serious.
This comes as a major setback for the MC because most development work has been stalled for around two years. The situation has come to such a pass that the MC has been unable to carry out basic works like road re-carpeting and regular maintenance in both Building and Roads and Public Health wings. The horticulture wing and electricity department are also suffering due to the scarcity of finances.
Box: Some of the works stalled due to cash crunch
1: Road re-carpeting
2: Construction and renovation of community centres
3: Upgrade of markets by installing tiles and other works
4: Installation of paver blocks in colonies and sectors
5: Extension of Raipur Kalan Gaushala, mainly phase 3
6: Construction of new road to Dhanas
7: Resumption of work on Zero Food Street
8: Work on construction of model street vending sites
9: Rainwater harvesting at around 45 sites
Box: Meeting with Shah has not helped
Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla met Union home affairs minister in March expressed serious concern about the financial situation of the municipal corporation.
During the meeting, Babla highlighted the urgent need for release of funds as per recommendations of the fourth Delhi Finance Commission (DFC) and requested an interim solution based on the third DFC recommendations until a final resolution is reached. Despite this, the MC has failed to get any additional funds to date either from the MHA or from the Chandigarh administration.
Instead, citizens have been heavily burdened with a steep hike in property tax in both residential and commercial segments.
Box: False hope & futile gesture
During the monthly general house meeting on April 30, BJP councillors came down into the well of the house and distributed sweets
They claimed that the UT administrator was considering giving the MC an additional grant of Rs 238 crore.
However, no such grant has fallen through.
In the backdrop of the steep hike in property tax, opposition councillors termed the gesture of distributing sweets as shameful.
In reply, BJP members said they distributed sweets in the hope of additional funds as the administrator was looking for options.
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