Business-friendly BMC may give traders 5-yr, not annual, licences from one window
Thursday, 30 January 2014 11:04
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The Times of India 30.01.2014 Business-friendly BMC may give traders 5-yr, not annual, licences from one window
MUMBAI: The BMC budget for 2014-15 is unlikely to flag off any big-bang projects though it is election year, but several announcements have been lined up to make life easier for Mumbaikars, said civic officials.
Among the beneficiaries will be residents of private layouts - large private townships of which there are more than 196 in the city - as the civic body is likely to extend the full range of its services to these societies.
Residents of BMC buildings, living in fear since one collapsed in Mazgaon in 2013 killing over 60 people, can breathe easy. Civic officials said a large chunk of the budget, to be presented on February 4, will be allocated for repair and reconstruction, particularly after several fire brigade, BMC office and staff quarters buildings were declared dilapidated.
Another highlight will be the BMC's decision to go business-friendly. It will not only start a business development department, but provide single-window access for all licences. Moreover, renewal of most of its licences required by commercial establishments may be needed every five years, instead of annually now.
In the private layouts, the BMC at the moment provides only water supply. Now, they plan to extend amenities such as maintenance of roads and streetlights, collection of garbage, etc to the buildings. The cost-sharing formula is in the works. In 2002, the state government had said the BMC should bear two-thirds of the cost and the rest would be paid by the housing societies within the layouts.
The BMC will also invest to update its IT apparatus, refurbish its website and introduce several online interfaces for the citizens to use. "Mobile apps, online health system, online payment of the civic taxes will be introduced," said a senior civic official.
The online push will be strong in the water department. "We are remodelling the business process in the water department by making it all online. From application for water line to paying of bills, all can be made online," said a department official.
The BMC also plans to introduce spot billing and collection of water bills.
Stress will be laid in the budget on operation and maintenance of the civic infrastructure in the city. The solid waste management department, handling one of the primary responsibilities of the BMC, will undertake three pilot waste-to-energy plant projects to manage waste in the city.
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Municipal corporations ask chief minister to release funds
Thursday, 30 January 2014 11:03
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The Times of India 30.01.2014 Municipal corporations ask chief minister to release funds
NEW DELHI: Faced with a financial crunch, the three municipal corporations want the state government to immediately release funds that have been pending for more than 3 years. On Wednesday, members of the political wings of the three corporations gave chief minister Arvind Kejriwal a list of 23 issues that require immediate attention.
Post-trifurcation, the corporations, especially those of north and east Delhi, have been facing serious problems and have not been able to take up development work. "The past two years have been really challenging for us as we didn't have adequate funds. On top of this, the previous government had given us a loan of Rs 790 crore,'' said Meera Aggarwal, leader of the House, North Delhi Corporation. The corporations want the government to waive off the loan of Rs 1,767 crore which was given to the three corporations at the time of trifurcation.
The BJP-led corporations also want the government to immediately release Rs 1,709 crore, which it was to pay the erstwhile MCD for switching from 'ratable value method' (RVM) to 'unit area method' (UAM) for calculation of property tax. "There are several schemes under which the government was to pay the civic agency, but the Congress-led government didn't release our share. MCD used to get 70% grant for education till 2008, but it was reduced to 56%. Our global share, which is given to corporations for introducing reforms, was reduced from 5.5% to 4%. We want the government to share the burden of the sixth pay commission. We have an additional burden of Rs 2,000 crore,'' said Subhash Arya, leader of the House, South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
In a 30-minute meeting, councillors discussed issues ranging from additional funds to increasing the powers of corporations. They also demanded that all roads wider than 60 feet be returned to the civic agency.
New Delhi Municipal Council regularizes 628 workers
Thursday, 30 January 2014 11:01
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The Times of India 30.01.2014 New Delhi Municipal Council regularizes 628 workers
NEW DELHI: In two worker-friendly steps on Wednesday, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) approved a proposal to regularize the services of 628 people on regular muster roll (RMR), and decided that one family member of every deceased employee will be hired as casual labour on compassionate grounds.
The temporary workers had been awaiting regular jobs for more than two years. "A person becomes eligible for regularization after six years on RMR while these people had been on the roll since 2006," said an NDMC official.
About the decision to offer work on compassionate grounds, NDMC chairman Jalaj Srivastava said only 5% of the staff can be hired on this basis within three years of an employee's death. "So, a lot of people are unable to get jobs as we often don't have vacancies. The council has agreed to hire family members of deceased NDMC employees as casual labour."
The civic agency, which is busy finalizing its budget for the financial year 2014-15, has also adopted the AAP-led Delhi government's decision to provide 20kl of water free on every metered connection per month. "We have adopted the government's decision. But this is subject to approval from DJB, which is yet to inform us about it,'' said an official.
"We postponed the water issue in the previous two meetings as we wanted chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to be present. But as we have not received the notification, we decided to go ahead and adopt the scheme,'' said Srivastava.
While it has implemented some of the government's poll promises, NDMC has put schemes like liberalization of the medical policy on hold. The next council meeting is scheduled for February 7. The civic agency is hopeful that by then it will receive the notification from the home ministry. It will table a few important policies related to property and markets in the next meeting.
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