The state government has plans to upgrade 160 civic bodies.

Inaugurating a two-day workshop on ‘Rajiv Awas Yojane’ here on Monday, Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake said an order to this effect would be issued soon.

He said there are proposals before the department to upgrade gram panchayats to town panchayats, town panchayats to town municipal councils, TMCs to city municipal councils and CMCs to city corporation based on population.

He said he had toured the state in the last three months and the conditions of the slum-dwellers was pathetic, as the civic bodies had failed to provide infrastructure facilities.

Expressing regret that the state government had failed to utilise the Central grants meant for providing infrastructure facilities to people living in urban areas, he said: “We are far behind in utilising the funds compared to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.”

In the last three months, his department had submitted proposals under several Union-sponsored schemes to the tune of over Rs 10,000 crore, he said and directed the implementing agencies to utilise it properly.

He also said: “The government is planning to set up a revolving fund to support civic bodies which are not financially sound.”