Now, executive officers of urban local bodies to play more pro-active role

To provide better service to the people of Bengal, the executive officers of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) will soon have to shoulder greater responsibility.

While tabling the West Bengal Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2017, state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim on Thursday said that to keep pace with the fast-changing society, the demands of residents had gone up. It would be sheer wastage if the chairman of the ULBs were kept busy signing cheques or clearing bills. The chairman of a ULB should make plans and take up development projects, he said.

Hakim said that executive officers were now directly involved with a host of social activities and citizen-friendly schemes, such as Sabuj sathi, Khadya Sathi, Kanyashree and Yuvashree.

The minister added that in the past five years, the Urban Development department had brought transparency in administration and financial matters of ULBs and these have brought good results.

"The people are getting better amenities and have supported our government," Hakim stated.

It may be mentioned that throughout the state the activities of ULBs have gone up. Apart from implementing various schemes, ULBs are in charge of organising social functions.