CITIES facelift on agenda- Chunni Lal Bhagat

Chandigarh, July 14, 2013: The Local Bodies department disbursed grant in aid worth Rs. 402.08 crore to all the 145 local bodies of the state to compensate them for the loss of octroi. This grant meant for the overall development of the cities.

This was disclosed by Chunni Lal Bhagat, Minister for Local Bodies, Punjab here today.

The Minister said that the grant in aid was provided to the local bodies out of the collection of the VAT. He said that the funds were provided to the Local Government for the first quarter of the current financial year 2013-14 and in total Rs. 402.08 crore was disbursed to the local government. The respective Local Bodies included Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Panchayats would use this grant for providing better basic amentias and setting up modern infrastructure.

The Minister while divulging the detail of the amount disbursed to the different Local Bodies, said that Municipal Corporation Ludhiana has been disbursed an amount of Rs. 99.77 crore, Municipal Corporation Jalandhar Rs. 42.09 crore, Municipal Corporation Amritsar Rs. 35.39 crore, Municipal Corporation Bathinda Rs. 17.98 crore, Municipal Corporation Mohali Rs. 13.93 crore and Municipal Corporation Patiala has been provided the finical assistance of Rs. 9.77 crore.

Bhagat reiterated the SAD-BJP Government resolve to enact total facelift of all the cities by providing the citizen basic amentias coupled with ultra modern infrastructure.