The Central government on Friday released Rs 1348.10 crore to six states including, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Tripura, for providing grants to urban local bodies.
According to data released by the Ministry of Finance, Jharkhand received Rs 112.20 crore, Karnataka Rs 375 crore, Kerala Rs 168 crore, Odisha Rs 411 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 267.90 crore, and Tripura Rs 14 crore.
"The grants released are meant for Non-Million Plus cities (NMPCs) including Cantonment Boards," the Union Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The 15th Finance Commission in its report for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 has divided the Urban Local Bodies into two categories: (a) Million-Plus urban agglomerations/cities (excluding Delhi and Srinagar), and (b) all other cities and towns with less than one million population (Non-Million Plus cities). The Commission has recommended separate grants for them.
Out of the total grants recommended by the Commission for Non-Million Plus cities, 40 per cent is basic (untied) grant and the remaining 60 per cent is tied grant. Basic grants (untied) are utilised for location-specific felt needs, except for payment of salary and incurring other establishment expenditures.
On the other hand, tied grants for the Non-Million Plus cities are released for supporting and strengthening the delivery of basic services. Out of the total tied grant, 50 per cent is earmarked for 'Sanitation Solid Waste Management and attainment of star ratings as developed by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MOH&UA). The remaining 50 per cent is tied to 'drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling'.
The tied grants are meant to ensure the availability of additional funds to urban local bodies over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes and provide quality services to citizens.
In the current financial year, the Government of India has released a total amount of Rs 10,699.33 crore so far to the States as grants to the Non-Million Plus cities. These grants are released by the Ministry of Finance on the recommendations of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
( With inputs from ANI )
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