Bhubaneswar, Around Rs.23,848 Cr rupees will be transferred to Panchyati Raj Institutions ( PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies as per recommendations of 5th State Finance Commission. This was finalized in the High Level Monitoring Committee Meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy in Lokseba Bhawan Conference hall recently.
Reviewing the issues relating to transfer of funds as presented by Principal Secretary Finance Ashok Meena, Chief Secretary Tripathy directed the Panchayats and urban bodies to expedite implementation and maximize outcomes of the expenditure.
Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra asked the self government bodies to take up the need based projects having revenue generation potential so as to make those sustainable in the long run. Chief Secretary Tripathy directed the ULBs to diversify their revenue base and achieve six percent increase in annual revenue generation.
Further, Chief Secretary Tripathy directed to release the funds directly to the GPs, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishads through PRIASOFT integrated with online Integrated Financial Management System ( IFMS) system. It was decided to transfer the funds in two tranches viz. 1st installment in the month of May-June and 2nd installment in the month of October-November.
The 2nd installment would be released only after completion of the 30% of the work taken up under the fund. Chief Secretary directed the PRIs and ULBs to submit the utilization certificates in time as per specifications of finance department.
Principal Secretary Finance Meena appraised that the total fund of around Rs.223848 cr would be transferred to these bodies over a period of six years from 2020-21 to 2025-26. Out of this fund, around Rs.7321 cr would be under the head of devolution, Rs.9678 Cr would be under assignment of taxes, and, around Rs.6849 cr would be provided as grant-in-aid. Sri Meena further said, “The PRIs will get a total amount of around Rs.15715.60 cr and the ULBs will get an amount of around Rs8132.52 cr during this period.
It was decided in the meeting that the funds would be utilized for the projects like drinking water, water harvesting structures, sanitation, solid waste management, running of projects through solar power, construction of primary school buildings, maintenance of health sub-centers, Anganwadis, livestock centers, roads, culverts, creation of water bodies in urban areas, establishment of water quality testing labs, critical gap in drainage net work, drainage of storm water and maintenance of other community assets for which no specific maintenance grant is available.
