Chandigarh, October 12- Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal today took another significant step in the ongoing process of decentralizing power to local city governments by granting Mayors of municipal corporations the authority to suspend Group C and D employees, including Junior Engineers (JEs).
In addition to this, the Chief Minister also announced to raise the administrative sanction limit for mayors from Rs 2.50 crore to Rs 10 crore.
The Chief Minister was presiding over the meeting of Mayors and Senior Deputy Mayors of Municipal Corporations of the state here today. Urban Local Bodies Minister, Dr. Kamal Gupta was also present on this occasion.
The Chief Minister said that the Mayor represents a vast constituency. Over the past nine years, our government has significantly empowered Panchayati Raj institutions through decentralization. He highlighted that previous reigns concentrated power, while our approach has been to decentralise the powers. The Chief Minister revealed that several crucial decisions were made during the recent cabinet meeting, and the Mayors and councilors will play a pivotal role in their execution. He urged them to raise public awareness about these decisions, facilitating the legal regularization of activities, such as operating shopping malls in old colonies like Model Town.
The Chief Minister disclosed that the Central Finance Commission and State Finance Commission are set to allocate approximately Rs 600-700 crore to the municipal corporations for the third quarter. He urged the Mayor to promptly compile an estimate for the development projects within their jurisdiction and submit it to the government. He stressed the importance of maintaining high-quality standards in all development initiatives. Additionally, he mentioned that the government has recently regularised 404 colonies, with 151 of these falling under the purview of municipal corporations.
Corporations will have to refund property taxes imposed on agricultural land.
He said that due to the expansion of Municipal Corporations, many villages have been incorporated into their jurisdictions, resulting in the creation of new colonies within these villages outside the Lal Dora boundaries. These areas include agricultural land, and property taxes of approximately Rs 4 crore have been levied on them, which will need to be refunded since property taxes cannot be imposed on agricultural land. The government plans to conduct a survey of these colonies to facilitate property transactions.
The Chief Minister added that the government has successfully completed the complex process of creating property IDs in cities, with an accompanying Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in development. A copy of this SOP will also be provided to the attendees. He emphasized the need for seamless coordination between the Municipal Corporation Commissioner and the Mayor to ensure the smooth execution of development projects.
In addition to the Urban Local Bodies Department, the meeting was attended by officials from the Police, Transport, Health, Citizen Resource Information, and Education Departments.
During the event, Mr. Navdeep Singh Virk, Principal Secretary of the Transport Department, apprised the Chief Minister of the plan to initiate electrical air-conditioned city bus services in seven municipal corporations, in addition to Rewari. To support this endeavor, a new bus terminal spanning 3 acres will be constructed, complete with a charging station, at an estimated cost of Rs 115 crore. The operation of these buses will be outsourced, and the recruitment process will be handled accordingly.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, DGP Sh. Shatrujit Kapur, Commissioner and Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Sh. Vikas Gupta, Special Secretary, Home Department, Sh. Mahavir Kaushik and other officers of the departments remained present in the meeting.