Rajmeet Singh
Chandigarh, October 19
To check the backlog of approvals to decisions taken by the urban local bodies (ULBs) by the Local Government Department, the latter has decentralised the process for granting approvals at the level of the directorate.
In the past, a number of resolutions passed by the ULBs across the state remained pending over objections on certain issues. “Now an effort has been made to enable the ULBs or corporations to deal with issues at their own level,” said a senior official.
But the effective decentralisation of powers, as per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, is yet to be achieved as the state government has overriding powers over the ULBs in matters like framing of rules and cancelling or suspending a resolution, besides other functions.
Sources said works costing more than Rs 50 lakh were still approved at the level of the chief engineer posted at the state headquarters. For work estimates above Rs 1 crore, the approval was given by high power committee.
As per the orders issued by the department, resolutions for transfer of properties to other departments, perks of mayors, presidents of municipal councils are among the issues to be dealt at the state level. The municipal commissioners, ADCs (General) and executive officers have been made responsible for putting up resolutions for approval before the state headquarters after proper verification.
They have also been instructed to ensure that the agenda items are put up as per rules and regulations. A senior official said an effort had been made to cut down on pendency of approvals to the resolutions at the state headquarters.
