New urban, rural policies for TS soon: CM KCR

The State government will soon have new urban and rural policies, besides a new revenue policy, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao said on Sunday. He instructed the officials to formulate the new policies and submit draft policies in the next three days. The State government was keen on convening a brief session of the State Legislature soon to introduce the new legislations, he said.

As part of the new urban policy, the State government will come up with a new Municipal Act, new Municipal Corporations Act, new Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act and also a separate Act to govern Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), along with other urban development authorities in the State. The Chief Minister was speaking at a high level review meeting on new urban and rural policies at Pragathi Bhavan here.

The Chief Minister wanted stringent laws against corruption at all levels, illegal and unauthorised constructions, and violation of municipal laws, with adequate scope for promotion of urban greenery, cleanliness and infrastructure. The elected representatives and officials of urban local bodies concerned will be responsible for ensuring that the administration functions as per the new municipal laws.



Necessary provisions will be made to initiate stringent action against them in cases of dereliction of duties, he said.

Through effective implementation of the new municipal laws, the State government wants to bring qualitative changes in the governance and administration of urban local bodies. The district collectors also will have an active role to address issues within the ULBs. “One cannot spend funds as per their their whims and fancies but in accordance with the priorities of each ULB and resolve the issues,” the Chief Minister said. He also wanted the officials to ensure steady flow of revenue to the urban local bodies and effective utilisation of funds accordingly.

Chandrashekhar Rao said the State government had identified priorities soon after the State formation and addressed the issues accordingly. Besides focusing on welfare programmes, the government resolved the power and drinking water crises besides taking up construction of irrigation projects and industrial development on a large scale. “Now is the time to step up our efforts towards development by enacting new policies and reforms in governance to make it transparent, effective and corruption-free,” he added.