Don’t divert civic bodies’ grants: Stalin

DMK working president MK Stalin has urged the bureaucrats not to play into the hands of the Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani, who has been insisting to spend ‘basic grants’ from Finance Commission to execute contracts.

Condemning Velumani for the corruption prevailing in the department that caters to the basic needs of the citizens and earning the notoriety of ‘percentage raj’ unlike in any other department, Stalin claimed that the minister was shunting the  bureaucrats, who do not fit his bill. 

“The state has been allocated Rs 8,777 crore for a five-year period between 2015-16 and 2019-17 as recommended by the 14th Finance Commission of which the state had received Rs 947 crore and Rs 1,312.19 crore for the past two years besides Rs 1,390 crore for 2017-18. 

Releasing the current year’s first tranche of funds to local bodies amounting to Rs 448.7 crore, Commissioner for Municipal Administration Prakash had written to the local bodies to revert back with the details of payment of electricity dues in full,” Stalin said. 

Stating that the basic grants are aimed at enabling delivery of basic services such as water supply, street lights, roads, sanitation in the respective local bodies, Stalin said that the minister was insisting  to divert the funds  towards execution of contract works.

“For any municipality, water supply and sanitation, including storm water drainage and solid waste management, are the priority. The funds should be utilised only for the delivery of basic services as envisaged. It would wreck the entire local body structure otherwise,” Stalin reasoned. 

At a time when the dengue scare stares the state at its face, the minister’s direction to divert Finance Commission funds to execute contract works is disturbing, he added.