Expedite urban reform proposals, civic body told

Under the Central Government’s ‘Special Assistance Scheme for Capital Investment 2025–26’, the Municipal Corporation has been directed to speed up the preparation and submission of urban reform proposals. The scheme, aimed at providing capital support to states, requires urban local bodies to implement planning-related reforms on priority basis.

In response, Additional Municipal Commissioner Surinder Singh has issued instructions to officials from the town planning and related departments to draft and present all reform-oriented proposals by June 30. These steps are essential to ensure timely access to financial assistance from the Centre for urban development initiatives. Surinder Singh stated that as per the latest directives from the Union Ministry of Finance, nodal officers have been appointed for overseeing city-level reforms. These officers are responsible for initiating necessary actions and preparing detailed progress reports, which will form the basis for receiving Central funds.

The Municipal Corporation has already conducted two internal review meetings on June 17 and June 25, where the roadmap for the proposed reforms was discussed in detail. A third and crucial meeting has now been scheduled for June 30 at 10 am at the office of the Additional MC Commissioner to finalise the proposals before submission. In addition, a state-level meeting is slated to take place on July 3 in Chandigarh, to be chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Local Bodies Department. The upcoming meeting will serve as a platform for reviewing proposals from across the state and aligning them with the objectives of the Central scheme. The swift action from the Municipal Corporation is expected to position Amritsar among the leading cities in implementing urban reforms under the national capital investment framework.

It is worth mentioning here that the ‘Special Assistance Scheme for Capital Investment (SASCI) 2025-26’ provides financial assistance to state governments for capital expenditure projects.