The New Indian Express 18.01.2010
New municipalities likely to be notified soon
HYDERABAD: Upgradation of major village panchayats to municipalities is progressing at a snail’s pace.
The government had decided last year to create 60 new municipalities in addition to the existing 109 to improve the infrastructure in major panchayats which are growing rapidly in terms of population, commerce and industry. Besides, some villages have become major tourist and pilgrim centres but woefully lacking infrastructure to cope with the increasing traffic.
Apart from ushering in development in these major villages, the government wants to tap the funds being given by the Centre for development of urban areas. Hence the decision to upgrade the major villages as municipalities.
Officials also took into cognisance the fact that there are more number of municipalities in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
About 50 major panchayats, out of 1,200 in the State, have consented to be upgraded and the proposals are being scrutinised by the ministry of municipal administration and urban development (MAUD). However, of the 50, only one major panchayat has been notified as a municipality so far.
MAUD officials need to expedite the process as the census exercise is likely to commence in June this year.
If the conversion is not done by that time, the department has to wait for another year to complete the process.
The government has to provide information about the urban and rural areas to census officials before the commencement of population enumeration. Once the census exercise begins the government cannot undertake upgradation of villages into municipalities. The wayout for MAUD is to notify villages as municipalities at the earliest uless it is ready to wait till the census operation comes to an end.
According to the sources, the MAUD department may complete the exercise of notifying new municipalities in a month or two.
The present municipalities are going to polls in September this year.
But it is not certain whether the government will conduct elections to the new municipalities to be formed before the elections.
