Chandigarh, June 2- Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal who also holds the portfolio of the Finance Minister has directed the officials that in future, the distribution of funds to Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions should be as per the norm of seven percent set by the State Finance Commission and the Central Finance Commission. For this, the population should be calculated as per the allocated budget released by the Finance Department and the verified data of Parivar Pehchan Patra till December 31, 2021.

The Chief Minister was presiding over a review meeting on devolution of funds and major projects of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies here today.  Urban Local Bodies Minister, Dr. Kamal Gupta and Development and Panchayats Minister, Sh. Devender Singh Babli were also present during the meeting. 

The Chief Minister emphasized that the calculation and devolution of funds by seven percent set by the State Finance Commission and the Central Finance Commission are not being done properly, so from now onwards the allocation of funds should be done according to the census. In the state, 75 percent of the fund is allocated to Panchayats, 15 percent to the Block Samiti and 10 percent to the Zilla Parishad.

The Chief Minister further said that Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions will have to gradually increase their financial resources. There are 92 Urban Local Bodies in the State including 11 Municipal Corporations, 22 Municipal Councils and 59 Municipal Committees in which there are six clusters falling in an area of about 2,800 square Kms having a population of about 1.04 crore. The rural area is estimated to have a population of about 1.82 crore. However, according to the 2011 census, the population figures were different.

It is worth mentioning that as Finance Minister, when Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal presented the State Budget in the Vidhan Sabha for the third time, something ingenious was observed  in the announcement of budget, which was even appreciated by the members of the opposition. Even the members had called the Chief Minister an experienced economist.

On this occasion the Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. D.S. Dhesi, Additional Chief Secretary Finance and Planning Departments, Sh. T.V.S.N Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Town and Country Planning and Urban Estates, Sh. Devender Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Development and Panchayats, Sh. Amit Jha, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Kumar Agrawal and other senior officers were also present.