BHUBANESWAR: The Third State Finance Commission (TFC) has recommended a grant of Rs 2,643.35 crore for the panchayat and urban local bodies (ULBs) of the State.
Talking to mediapersons after submitting a report to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here today, TFC chairman Sudhakar Panda told mediapersons here today that out of this, Rs 2,220.25 crore is for panchayat bodies while Rs 423.15 crore is for the ULBs.
The commission has recommended that the administrative structures for the panchayat bodies and ULBs should be built for effective implementation of various schemes.
He said that the State Government should create separate cadres for municipal and panchayat officials.
Referring to the issue of raising of own resources by the panchayats and ULBs, the commission recommended that neglected panchayat properties should be taken care of. The lease money of ponds under the panchayats should increase.
Besides, the registration fee for collection of minor forest produces (MFPs) should be raised from its present Rs 100. The commission has recommended a property transaction fee in the urban as well as rural areas.
This will be mostly enforced for purchase of new flats and other properties.
Panda said that this would be collected at the time of registration of a property and transferred to municipal bodies.
The money raised for this should be spent exclusively on slum development, he said.
The fee will also be implemented in rural areas for increasing the income of the panchayat bodies. Referring to the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, Panda said that the local bodies, both urban and rural, should get a share from the cess imposed on this.
This should be distributed on 60:40 basis between the State Government and local bodies.
Several other measures have been recommended by the commission for increasing the resources of the panchayat and urban bodies.
These include introduction of untied fund for the panchayats. The panel has sought Rs 35 lakh for each block for this.
Besides, Rs 85 lakh for each block has been recommended for black-topping of roads in villages. The commission has also demanded Rs 4,480.85 crore from the Thirteenth Finance Commission for the development of panchayat and ULBs in the State.