Centre approves Rs 47 crore for municipal service centres

Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh today said that the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had approved a grant of Rs 47.37 crore for setting up Municipal Shared Service Centres in Himachal Pradesh. He added that the funds had been approved as the result of the initiative and consistent efforts of the state government.

The minister said that these centres would help overcome major challenges such as a shortage of manpower, limited financial resources and the lack of technical support faced by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). “The state government is working to strengthen urban governance, promote digital service delivery and ensure efficient municipal administration to the people of the state. For this purpose, 15 Municipal Shared Service Centres will be established to serve 74 ULBs as per the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission,” he added.

Vikramaditya said that these centres would act as one-stop facilitation hubs and offer citizens easy, transparent and uniform access to various municipal services such as the issuance of birth and death certificates, trade licences, pet registration, property tax payment, garbage bill collection and grievance redress similar to the functioning of Passport Seva Kendras.

He said that these centres would also serve as centralised units for accounting, payroll management and vendor payments for the members of the ULBs. “They will further provide doorstep services like tax and bill collection in smaller towns, ensuring convenience and efficiency for the public,” he added.

The minister said that the Central Government would release the funds in two tranches and 50 per cent funds would be released at the time of sanction and the remaining later. “The first instalment of Rs 23.68 crore has already been released, which will help strengthen the institutional and operational capacity of these centres,” he added.