Latest news with #MunicipalAdministrationandUrbanDevelopmentDepartment
New Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Andhra govt removes Kadapa mayor over violation of rules
VIJAYAWADA/KADAPA: The Andhra Pradesh government has removed Kothamaddi Suresh Babu from the Kadapa Mayor post, accusing him of violating municipal rules to benefit his family's business. In its order ( 446) on Wednesday, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department claimed Suresh Babu violated the GHMC Act, 1955, by awarding civil works contracts worth Rs 55.64 lakh to Vardhini Constructions, a company owned by his wife, Jayasree, and son, Amaresh. The controversy kicked off when Kadapa MLA Madhavi Reddappagari filed a complaint with the Vigilance and Enforcement Department, flagging what she called 'huge irregularities' in Kadapa's municipal contracts. The department's probe revealed that Vardhini Constructions, registered as a Class-V category contractor in 2023, bagged 10 projects under Suresh Babu's watch. Seven of these, including laying CC roads and desilting storm drains in the 12th and 29th divisions, were completed, netting Rs 33.65 lakhs. Three other contracts, like CC road works in Buddayapalli, are still pending. The State government says this setup breaches Section 22-1(h) of the GHMC Act, which forbids elected members or their kin from having stakes in municipal contracts, labelling it a clear conflict of interest. Suresh Babu, a YSRCP leader in his second mayoral term since 2021, got a show-cause notice on March 24, 2025. In his May 7 response, he claimed he didn't know about the contracts, which were under Rs 10 lakhs and handled by the Municipal Commissioner, not the council.
The Hindu
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
A.P. issues comprehensive guidelines for urban local bodies on fund utilisation
In a significant move aimed at strengthening Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and enhancing urban service delivery, the Central government has issued comprehensive guidelines on the utilisation of municipal funds. The order, issued by S. Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department through G.O. Ms. No. 75, on Monday seeks to ensure efficient financial management across all ULBs, starting April 1, 2025. Aligning with the State's ambitious Swarna Andhra@2047 vision and India's Viksit Bharat@2047 mission, the government aims to accelerate GSDP growth by over 15% annually. Recognising ULBs as critical growth hubs, the new policy grants them greater autonomy over municipal fund management, as announced by the Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav during the 2025-26 Budget Session. The guidelines categorise expenditures into maintenance and capital investment, targeting critical sectors such as public health, sanitation, water supply, roads, drainage, and streetlighting. Essential services ULBs are mandated to prioritise essential services like 100% door-to-door waste collection, leak-proof water supply, pothole-free roads, and fully functional streetlights. Municipalities have been directed to allocate a minimum portion of their revenues— ranging from 20% to 30% depending on their grade—to capital expenditure projects. Furthermore, not less than 30% of income, excluding government grants, must be earmarked for public health advancements under the Public Health Act, 1939. Monitoring mechanism To ensure accountability, a robust monitoring mechanism, including a dedicated expenditure dashboard linked to the ERP system, will be set up. Expenditure reviews will be conducted fortnightly by the Municipal Administration Directorate and monthly by the State government. Mr. Suresh Kumar emphasised strict adherence to these guidelines to transform urban governance and deliver better services to citizens.
Hans India
22-04-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Guidelines issued for Revalidation of 870 layouts in Urban Development Authorities
Vijayawada: The department of municipal administration and urban development on Monday issued guidelines on the collection of applicable fees and charges along with the penalty for the delayed period with respect to Re-validation of offline layouts. These guidelines will enable the authorities to dispose of all the revalidation of old layouts in a time bound manner duly collecting the applicable fees and charges along with the penalty for the delayed period, as a one-time relaxation, said S Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to Government, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department. In a press release, Suresh Kumar has announced that the department received requests from people for the revalidation of layouts. He directed the director of town and country planning, Mangalagiri to pursue the orders. Earlier, the Director of Town & Country Planning, Mangalagiri has brought to the notice of the government that the stakeholders have been requesting to issue orders for re-validation of old Layout Permission beyond three Years which were issued in online mode. The Director of Town & Country Planning noticed that 870 layouts to an extent of 8509 Acres need to be re-validated and these were approved way back between 2 years to 20 years. Suresh Kumar instructed the authorities to dispose of all the revalidation of old layouts in a time bound manner duly collecting the applicable fees and charges along with the penalty for the delayed period, as fixed by the Government as one-time relaxation. Earlier, the government has constituted a committee for studying the issue and suggest penalty after examining the matter in detail and to submit report. As per the AP Layout Rules, revalidation of a layout for additional periods of two years requires payment of 50 percent of the layout permit fee as per the norms. The committee suggested for adopting the same criteria for revalidating online approved files. The number of revalidation periods for each layout should be determined based on the duration of the validity lapse. The applicant shall ensure that there is no variation to the approved layout pattern before obtaining revalidation. The layout permit fee must be calculated according to the current gazette rates of the respective Urban Development Authority (UDA). If the gap period for revalidation is less than one year after calculating the spell of two-years, the fee shall be collected on a proportionate basis. For gap periods exceeding one year but less than two years, it shall be considered as one spell for the purpose of fee calculation. The state government is trying to strengthen the Urban Development Authorities and giving more powers to ensure that local areas are developed.
