Vijayvargiya assures MP govt’s full support to make municipal corps financially self-reliant

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing (UD&H) Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, on Monday, assured that the state government will provide all possible assistance to make all municipal corporations of the state financially self-reliant and empowered.

Addressing a review meeting with mayors and commissioners of all 16 municipal corporations of the state here, Vijayvargiya said that efforts would be made to devolve more powers to urban local bodies to strengthen their administrative and financial functioning.

Vijayvargiya also said that security personnel (gunmen) would be provided to the mayors, and a letter in this regard would be sent to the Home Department. He directed municipal commissioners to maintain better coordination with mayors to expedite development works.

The minister emphasized that the regularisation of illegal colonies should be done in a manner that does not hinder the city’s development.

Discussions were also held on reducing electricity bills through the use of solar energy, and each municipal corporation has been asked to prepare a plan in this regard.

Expressing concern over the poor quality of construction work by contractors who quote below rates in tenders, Vijayvargiya called for strict action against such contractors. He also reviewed the projects approved under the Kayakalp Yojana, informing that works proposed by MLAs under this scheme have been sanctioned.

Urban Administration and Development Commissioner Sibi Chakravarthy also reviewed the implementation of instructions issued during an earlier meeting last year. Additional secretary and deputy secretaries of the UD&H department Shivraj Singh Verma, and Pramod Kumar Shukla and R K Kartikey respectively were present in the meeting.

The meeting was attended by prominent mayors, including Pushyamitra Bhargav (Indore), Sangeeta Sushil Tiwari (Sagar) and others, along with Indore Municipal Commissioner Shivam Verma, Gwalior Municipal Commissioner Sangh Priya and others.

The meeting highlighted several key points: municipal corporations will manage transport companies with a focus on citizen convenience; the installation of timers in street lighting systems was discussed; recruitment authority for posts based on population norms will be decentralized; elected urban body representatives will be sent on exposure visits to study best practices; and compensation grants for octroi losses were also discussed.

The meeting highlighted the state government’s intent to bring reforms in urban governance and enhance the operational efficiency of municipal bodies through financial empowerment, decentralised decision-making, and greater accountability.