CHANDIGARH, MARCH 28: A day after he authorized Sarpanches to use Panchayat Funds to help out people in villages, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday empowered the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state to buy medicines and food for urban daily wagers, labourers and poor, as well as fodder for Gaushalas, out of the Municipal Funds at their disposal.
Disclosing this, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that detailed instructions have been issued in this regard by the Local Government Department to enable all the Municipal Corporations, Committees and Councils/Nagar Panchayats to bear the necessary expenditure on this count to mitigate the hardships faced by the urban poor amid the curfew imposed in the state in the light of the COVID-19 crisis.
Declaring these expenses as fit charge in view of the prevailing crisis, Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the Local Government Department to utilise the municipal funds under the relevant provisions of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976 and of Punjab Municipal Act 1911.
Given the large populations in these cities, the Municipal Corporations of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar have been empowered with daily expenditure of Rs one lakh, subject to maximum limit of Rs 20 lakh for the entire period of lockdown/curfew. The other Municipal Corporations would be entitled to spend up to Rs 50,000 daily, subject to maximum Rs 10 lakh during the lockdown/curfew period.
Likewise, the Nagar Councils (A- Class Municipal Committees) have been empowered to incur expenditure of Rs 25,000 daily, with maximum limit of expenditure up to Rs 5 lakh during the period of lockdown and curfew. The Nagar Councils (Class B & C)/Nagar Panchayats would be eligible to bear expenditure of Rs 15000 daily on this count, subject to maximum amount of Rs 2.5 lakh during the entire lockdown and curfew period.
On Friday, the Chief Minister had authorized Sarpanches to use Panchayat funds to provide emergency relief to the poor and needy.
The Sarpanches have been authorised to spend Rs. 5,000 per day, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50,000, out of their Panchayat Funds, and have also been given powers to issue passes/letters for medical emergencies in their respective villages from 7 pm to 6 am every day, to allow people to visit doctors or hospitals for treatment and medicines.
