By our correspondent
Agartala, January 16, 2019: The 15th Finance Commission led by its Chairman N.K. Singh during a meeting took strong exception about the functions of Panchayeti Raj Institutions (PRIs). Also, the Commission opined that enough was not done for making Urban Bodies self reliant.
Official sources said, the Commission observed that out of the limited 12 functions which were marked for devolution by PRIs, only few had been happened so far.
The Commission seriously feels that devolution of funds and functions to PRIs needs to be expedited up as it remains incomplete as of date and it is required to meet the constitutional stipulations.
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma accompanied by Chief Secretary L.K. Gupta and others officials welcomed the delegates of 15th Finance Commission on their arrival at Agartala airport today.
The delegation also includes Arvind Mehta (secretary), Dr. Anup Singh (member), Dr. Ashok Lahiri (member) and seven other high officials.
After arrival in the city, the 15th Finance Commission held meetings with the representatives of the Panchayeti Raj Institutions (PRIs), Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), Industries and Commerce department, political leaders and the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) in State Guest House.
According to official sources, the 15th Finance Commission feels that the state government needs to design and expedite the master plans in a time-bound manner so that the infrastructure project could be implemented easily.
The Commission during discussions with government representatives said Tripura receives rainfall almost eight months in the year which is a serious challenge for implementation of infrastructure projects. Non-availability of master plans for big towns is also a drawback. Hence, the state government should accelerate the expedition of master plans in a time-bound manner.
The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council also expects more devolutions as per Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The TTADC has some state specific projects it would like to carry out. The Commission is expected to consider such policies sympathetically.
Apart from this, the Commission’s meeting with the Urban Local Bodies was informative, but the view that came out was that making them self sufficient and viable is still a long haul.
