The Hindu      06.01.2015   

Venkaiah for higher taxes to fund urban amenities

Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu
on Monday suggested that municipal bodies increase taxes once in three
years to meet the rising cost of better amenities.

The
bodies could follow the Singapore model wherein people had to pay to
travel on a particular road and to possess more than one vehicle, the
Minister suggested. The aim was to decongest roads. “Taking hard
decisions for a better future is essential,” he said, speaking at the
first consultative workshop on urban governance here. The municipal
commissioners and senior officials of the Urban Development Departments
of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and the
Union Territory of Puducherry took part in the workshop.

Mr.
Naidu asked the municipal commissioners to prepare the people for
reforms to make urban life more comfortable. He said he was agitated at
the “poor shape” of urban governance in the country. Reforms and
accountability must be built into the system, and people must be made to
pay taxes. The Central and State governments would give funds but the
municipal bodies must develop their own resources.

“The habit of looking up to government for everything should stop.”

Mr
Naidu hinted at the introduction of a credit rating system for the
municipal bodies.People must be told about the fiscal health of the
civic bodies. In Vijayawada, for example, taxes had not been revised for
the past 12 years, he pointed out.

At present, a
third of the population was living in urban areas, and this figure would
increase in the coming years. About 63 per cent of the GDP came from
cities, and it would rise to 75 per cent by 2030. Toilet coverage in the
country was at a poor 40 per cent and sewerage 16 per cent, while waste
segregation at source was just 18 per cent. Water supply was a mere 73
litres per capita per day (lpcd) against the target of 135 lpcd. The
shortage of houses was 1.8 crore, and the Prime Minister wanted to
provide houses for all by 2022.

Mr. Naidu asked the
officials to propose “out of the box” ideas to face the challenges.
There must be a single-window clearance, he said, adding that the
private sector could be roped in to create public amenities. The
proposed smart cities would take 10-15 years. For all this to happen,
smart leadership was also required, he said. The municipal commissioners
must play a key role. “Try to leave a mark on the city,” he told them.

The Minister urged municipal bodies to increase taxes every three years to meet the rising cost of better services