Chandigarh Mayor requests half of Rs 350 cr earned through vehicle registrations for MC

Facing acute financial crisis, Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla has requested the UT Administration to release 50 per cent of the revenue collected through tax/receipts from Registration and Licencing Authority (RLA) towards maintaining roads and parking lots in the city.

In letters written to Chief Secretary Rajiv Verma and Home Secretary-cum-Secretary Local Government Mandip Singh Brar, she said it was learnt that total revenue receipt of RLA of financial year is approximately Rs 350 crore and requested half of it to maintain roads and parkings in the city.

The Mayor rued that the civic body does not receive a specific share from the RLA receipts for registration or transfer of various types of vehicles despite being responsible for maintaining a significant number of roads in the city.

“The MC is responsible for maintaining approximately 1,860 km of roads, equivalent of 12’ single lane width, which is approximately 60 per cent of the total road length of Chandigarh. Additionally, the civic body is also maintaining roads and streets in 22 villages in the UT,” she added.

Notably, the UT Administration may pay the share of tax to the MC U/s 90(6)(b) of Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 as extended to the UT by the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, 1994 as follows: “(6) After the close of each year the Government may pay to the Corporation whole or such part as it may determine of the Tax collected by it under the Punjab Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1924 as applicable to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, from every person keeping a motor vehicle within the local area of the city.”

Seeks funds to look after villages

Besides, Babla also demanded allocation of a grant similar to the one earlier transferred to the various panchayats for the maintenance and upliftment of the 22 villages.

The Mayor further noted that the MC was currently maintaining the basic amenities such as roads, streets, storm water drains, sewerage, water supply, parks and various buildings in the 22 villages in the UT. Prior to the transfer to these villages to the civic body, the Panchayat Samitis were responsible for their maintenance and upkeep and received a specific annual grant for it.

“Now that the villages have been transferred to the MC, it is imperative that adequate funds are allocated for the maintenance and upkeep of these villages. In the public interest, it is essential that the basic amenities in these villages are maintained at a good quality standard,” she said.

Civic body defers finance panel meeting

The Municipal Corporation has deferred meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee scheduled to be held on April 25.

Congress councillor and member of committee Gurpreet Singh Gabi said that this was the first time that the meeting was postponed without giving any reason, adding that the civic body has no budget for development projects. No agenda for the new projects was circulated before the meeting and it has been postponed just a day before schedule. He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders claimed that the financial condition will improve once the party comes to power but nothing has changed.

Suman Sharma, another councilor, said they have not given the reason for the meeting being postponed.

Chandigarh