House resolves to reinforce municipalities

Itagar, March 16: The Aruchal Pradesh Assembly on Thursday adopted a private member’s resolution (PMR) on constituting a high level expert committee to suggest requisite amendments in the existing Municipal Council Act, 2007 and rules with due modifications for well defined local urban bodies before conduct of the next polls for the same.

The resolution was moved by Pasighat MLA Kaling Moyong. Another PMR seeking effective mechanism for adoption of DRDA contractual employees was however withdrawn by the mover Mutchu Mithi.

Urban Development & Town Planning Minister bam Rebia, while acknowledging the suggestions of the members to reform the Municipal administration informed that the Government was contemplating for gar Panchayat in the State and was working on reforming the Municipal Council Act by setting up high level committee with senior bureaucrats to make it more accountable for effective administration.

Rebia said that though the Municipal Council Act was implemented in 2008 at Itagar and Pasighat, it could not provide the basic civic amenities due to lack of proper planning and accountability and emphasized on reforming the municipal administration for better functioning.

Earlier, while urging the Government for initiating appropriate statutory and administrative reforms to ensure effective and efficient delivery of municipal services, robust accountability, better governce and improved fincial magement of urban local bodies, Moyong said that due to rapid urbanization, people from rural areas have migrated to urban places thus posing much difficulties in magement of urban areas due to lack of proper town planning, including sanitation, water supply, electricity, solid/liquid waste magement and the like.

Despite implementation of the Municipal Act in two urban cities of Itagar and Pasighat, no visible impact of Municipal services were seen on the ground level and citizens were suffering due to non functioning of Municipal Councils properly, Moyong pointed and strongly sought for appropriate requisite reforms to bring about accountability and transparency in municipal administration, besides effective implementation of the Municipal Act.

Ziro-Hapoli MLA Tage Taki and Bomdila MLA Japu Deru also supported the resolution while advocating for constitution of a committee to streamline the system of functioning of Municipal Council before the next election.