Mir Farhat
Srinagar, Feb 14: The failure of the previous National Conference-Congress Government to hold Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections has deprived the State of extra Central funds amounting to crores for development of towns.
Through various schemes, the Central Government assists the State by providing funds for the maintenance and raising infrastructure in its towns.
“When there are elected local bodies and municipal corporations, the State gets an extra 10 percent funds from the Centre through many schemes aimed at developing civic infrastructure in towns and cities.
Since the elections to these bodies were not held after 2010, we lost an opportunity to get funds for our State,” Director Urban Local Bodies, Kashmir, Hilal Ahmad Parray told Excelsior.
Elections to the Municipal Corporations and Urban Local Bodies were held way back in 2005 after 23 years and the bodies’ were dissolved in March 2010 after their terms expired. Then 14.5 lakh voters voted for 76 ULBs across the State’s urban areas.
The ULB polls were scheduled to be held in 2010. But the tussle between the then coalition partners to grab more mayoral seats and corporate scuttled the holding of the elections, and ultimately deprived the state of Central assistance.
Besides the tussle for power in corporations, the politics between the former coalition partners, NC and Congress, to take credit for the implementation of 73rd and 74th Amendment to the State’s Constitution also blocked the way for holding elections.
The official said that in the last four years the state has not received any funds for building civic infrastructure.
Parray said that the ULB has been always ready since 2010 about holding the elections and had even sent electoral rolls to the then Government.
“Several important development projects like building drainage schemes in urban areas were hit due to delay in releasing funds. Work on number of projects was either left half way and many other plans in pipeline were scuttled,” he said.
As per the provisions of Local Bodies Act, State Cabinet has to fix the deadline for completion of the term within six months, which is to be formally announced later by the Housing and Urban Development Department
The NC-Congress coalition in its Coalition Coordination Committee (CCC) meeting held in April 2013 had decided to hold the elections before June 31, 2013. But that didn’t happen and the coalition partners then blamed each other for delay in holding urban local body elections.
Follow our WhatsApp channel