BJP MDC calls for cancellation of municipal council proposals without consulting GHADC

Syllade | Rising MeghalayaJune 27, 2024

BJP Tura MDC Bernard N Marak demanded cancellation of all proposals submitted by municipal councils without consulting MDCs of urban areas and GHADC, which is a violation of the directives of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

In a letter to Deputy Chief Minister for District Council Affairs (DCA) Prestone Tynsong on Thursday, Marak said: “I humbly request you to please look into this matter immediately and rescind all proposals forwarded by municipal councils without consulting district MDCs. urban areas and GHADC and also to stop all payments for the time being until the problem is resolved.

He alleged that the municipalities had violated the directives of the Fifteen Finance Commission and the decision of the Coordination Committee formed on February 2, 2024 which decided that the CEM would convene a meeting to work out the details of the plans/projects, proposals and procedures for implementing the Fifteen Finances.

“The municipal CEOs did not attend the meeting scheduled for June 27 in the CEM hall, which can be termed as a humiliation for the CEM office and the GHADC authority.

Municipalities seem to forget that they operate in the sixth scheduled zone. The directives of the Finance Commission and the decisions taken by the Coordination Committee were also violated and dishonored by the municipalities,” Marak said.

He said that the decisions taken in a meeting held on February 2, 2024 and May 8, 2024 on the tranches of the Fifteenth Finance Commission were seriously violated by the municipalities as they submitted the proposals and implemented some funds without the knowledge of the GHADC which was contrary to the norms.

Marak said the Coordination Committee had decided some conditions on the implementation of the funds and then a letter was sent by the director of urban affairs, but when asked at GHADC, no one was aware of the funds already used by municipalities.

Furthermore, MDC said that the RTI revealed projects already being implemented without the knowledge of GHADC and that when the facts were provided to GHADC, the CEM of GHADC invited the CEOs of all municipalities that were implementing funds within the framework of the fifteen financial commissions for urban local bodies present at a meeting on June 27, 2024, none of them showed up, adding “It was a humiliation for the president of the CEM”.

He indicated that on May 8, 2024, it was decided that the Urban Local Authorities (ULB) will convene a meeting with the representatives of the ADCs relating to urban areas at the level of the CEM/Dy CEM.

The CEM took the initiative to convene a meeting to work out the details of plans and projects, proposals and procedures in accordance with the rules and regulations, but the CEOs avoided the meeting. It was decided by the coordination committee that the urban department and MDCs of urban areas would formulate action plans.

He said that none of these measures had been followed by the municipalities which implemented the Fifteen Finances in place of the urban department.

“The municipality has already forwarded the proposals without consulting the MDC of the urban area and before consulting the GHADC. The proposals made by municipal councils are mostly outside the area planned by the municipality,” said the MDC.

“Some of the proposed projects are duplicative while others are overestimated. People in urban areas would not benefit,” he said while adding that he had written a letter to the director (Boro) a few days ago but there was no response nowadays.