State govt releases Rs 508 crore for urban local bodies

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has released Rs 508 crore from Finance Commission Grants of 2017-18 to urban local bodies, a senior official of the state government today said.

The funds would be used towards maintenance of their assets, e-Governance and other operations.

“A fund of Rs 508 crore of the Finance Commission Grants has been recently released to urban local bodies,” Onkar Singh Meena, West Bengal government Secretary, Urban Development & Municipal Affairs Department told PTI.

“This entire fund is meant to be used by the municipal bodies for the maintenance of assets, e-Governance, operation and maintenance of water supply, sanitation, parks, buildings and civic services in wards,” Meena added.

The Finance Commission Grants, along with own resources of municipal bodies, fill the critical gaps in budget meant for urban local bodies.

The grant also fills the excess expenditure of budgetary allocations for different development projects by the state government like water supply, roads, Green City Mission initiatives, drains, sewerage and social welfare and health services.

In the last one year, Rs 1,400 crore Finance Commission Grants were released apart from the latest tranche.