The Hindu 31.10.2014
Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation to focus on increasing internal resources
Special council meeting proposed on November 11
Mayor Shivu Hiremath presiding over the monthly general body meeting of
the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation in Hubli Thursday.— Photo: Kiran
Bakale
Delay in release of funds for development works by the
State government seems to have forced the Hubli- Dharwad Municipal
Corporation to deliberate on increasing its internal resources and a
special council meeting has been proposed on the issue.
After
Congress councillor Ganesh Tagargunti moved a calling attention motion
on the revenue losses and non-availability of funds for development
works, and a heated discussion, Mayor Shivu Hiremath said the special
council meeting would be convened on November 11.
The
Mayor asked the officials of revenue, health and town planning
departments to come out with specific plans pertaining to their
departments on increasing internal resources. In addition, issues such
as lapses in generating revenue, increasing revenue collection through
steps such as bringing in revised tariffs in awarding trade licences,
and stringent steps on defaulters would be deliberated, he said.
Earlier,
elaborating on the issue, Mr. Tagargunti blamed official apathy for the
dwindling internal resources of the municipal corporation. He pointed
out that while roughly over 30,000 shops and commercial establishments
operated in the twin cities, the officials had issued only 22,000 trade
licences. While the corporation was supposed to generate Rs. 1 crore
through trade licences, it was collecting only Rs. 30 lakh, he said.
Mr.
Tagargunti pointed out that irrespective of the trade, the area of the
office/shop premises and the commodities or services they were dealing
with, trade licence holders were paying the same fee. He stressed the
need for collecting fee depending on the business and the area being
used for the purpose.
The former Mayor Viranna Savadi
referred to the issue of around 3,000 corporation properties in the
twin cities that were leased out and whose lease term had ended in 2003.
Councillors blamed officials for the poor rate of revenue collection
and said that through property tax, stallage and trade licence fees, and
property leases, the corporation could generate around Rs. 60 crore to
Rs. 70 crore.
Chaos
The
discussion on the issue earlier resulted in chaos after Mr. Viranna
Savadi referred to the statement of the district-in-charge Minister on
the release of funds and said that no fund had been released to the
municipal corporation till date. The former Mayor Prakash Kyarakatti and
others took strong exception to it. Both BJP and Congress councillors
engaged in a verbal duel resulting in chaos. After restoring order, the
Mayor said Rs. 60 crore to Rs. 70 crore was required for road repair in
Hubli and Dharwad and the funds had not been released yet. Mr. Hiremath
said he would again request the government to release it.
