By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 3: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) scrutiny of records of Urban Affairs Department, Directorate of Urban Affairs and Meghalaya’s all six Municipal Boards has indicated that there has been a lack of effective empowerment of Municipal Boards despite the existence of legal framework and the claim by the state government regarding devolution of functions.
Out of the 16 functions stated to have been devolved, the Municipal Boards assumed sole responsibility for three functions, had overlapping jurisdictions with state departments in three functions, and had no role in ten functions.
Audit on the “Devolution of functions to the Municipal Boards in Meghalaya under the Meghalaya Municipal Act, 1973” covering the period between 2018-19 and 2022-23 was conducted during October 2023 to November 2023 to examine whether the existing institutional mechanism created by the government had effectively empowered the urban local bodies (ULBs) to discharge their devolved functions, and whether the ULBs have access to raise and manage adequate financial resources.
The report stated that no municipal elections had been conducted since 1972, leading to the appointment of Commissioners and Chief Executive Officers by the state government, adding that as far as training of staff was concerned, only the Shillong Municipal Board had conducted training for their staff while the remaining five other Boards had not imparted any training to their staff during the period covered by audit.
“Government grants constituted 77 per cent of ULBs revenue from 2018-19 to 2022-23, with their own revenue contributing only 23 per cent of the total revenue,” the report said. The state’s Finance Commission, vital for financial autonomy and democratic decentralisation, had not been constituted as of June 2023.
The report also observed that there were persistent delays by all Municipal Boards in the submission of Annual Budget and that Performance grants under the 14th Finance Commission were also not received due to non-fulfilment of the prescribed eligibility criteria. Lack of these funds hindered their ability to improve urban services and infrastructure.
The CAG recommended that the state government take constructive action to match the devolution of funds and functionaries with the devolution of functions. It asked the government to take steps to augment the resources of the local bodies to ensure their financial autonomy.
The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, came into effect on June 1, 1993, with provisions for the establishment of ULBs as the third tier of governance in urban areas. Meghalaya is exempted from the implementation of 74th Constitution Amendment Act (CAA) under Article 243 ZC of the Constitution.
Although the 74th CAA is not applicable, the state government had strived to enable all local bodies to have financial autonomy and to perform functions analogous to the functions while retaining the distinctive tribal identity protected by the Sixth Schedule of other local bodies constituted under the Constitution of India.
