Strengthen PRIs, ULBs: State finance panel asks govt

Bhubaneswar: Asking the Odisha government to give stress on girl education, the third state finance commission on Thursday recommended expenditure of Rs 4480.85 crore for the development of gram panchayats and urban local bodies in the next five years.

A delegation of the finance commission headed by its chairman, Dr Sudhakar Panda presented the final report to governor, M C Bhandare and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

The final report aims at overall economic development of the state and inclusive growth of all regions, Panda told reporters after presenting the report.

Besides Rs 4480.85 crore, the commission also earmarked Rs 2641.60 crore under grant-in-aid (GIA) category.

It suggested grant of Rs 2220.25 crore for Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Rs 421.35 crore for urban local bodies (ULBs).

The commission in its 264-page report asked the state government to strengthen PRIs and ULBs as they directly reach the people in rural and urban areas respectively.

This apart, the commission also suggested the PRIs and ULBs to generate more revenue from their internal sources as the work load on them was increasing by the day.

Asked if the state government could fund such a huge amount for PRIs and ULBs, Panda said that the 13th Finance Commission should take the financial burden.

We have given a memorandum to the 13th Finance Commission seeking Rs 4480.85 crore for the development of PRIs and ULBs, he pointed out.