Chandigarh: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar who also holds the portfolio of the Finance Minister has directed the officials that in future, the distribution of funds to Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions should be as per the norm of seven percent set by the State Finance Commission and the Central Finance Commission. For this, the population should be calculated as per the allocated budget released by the Finance Department and the verified data of Parivar Pehchan Patra till December 31, 2021.
The CM was presiding over a review meeting on devolution of funds and major projects of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies. Urban Local Bodies Minister, Dr. Kamal Gupta and Development and Panchayats Minister Devender Singh Babli were also present.
The CM emphasized that the calculation and devolution of funds by seven percent set by the State Finance Commission and the Central Finance Commission are not being done properly, so from now onwards the allocation of funds should be done according to the census. 75 percent of the fund is allocated to Panchayats, 15 percent to the Block Samiti and 10 percent to the Zilla Parishad.
The CM said that Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions will have to gradually increase their financial resources. There are 92 Urban Local Bodies including 11 Municipal Corporations, 22 Municipal Councils and 59 Municipal Committees in which there are six clusters falling in an area of 2,800 sq km having a population of about 1.04 crore. The rural population is estimated to be 1.82 crore. However, according to 2011 census, population figures were different.
As Finance Minister, when CM Khattar presented the State Budget in the Vidhan Sabha, something ingenious was observed in the announcement of budget, which was even appreciated by the members of the opposition. Members had called the CM an experienced economist.