Venkaiah urges civic chiefs to revise taxes regularly

Says the Centre will ensure that 25 per cent of the houses in cities are occupied by weaker sections

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, M Venkaiah Naidu has called upon Municipal Commissioners of Southern States to regularly revise the taxes for at least five years so that the government could extend basic amenities to all sections and remain focused on development.

In his key note address at the Consultative Workshop on Urban Governance, the Union Minister said the government which envisaged ‘Housing for All’ by 2022 was keen on bringing in transparency in municipal administration. He reminded the July 2014 declaration at Conclave of Ministers and Workshop of Secretaries of State and Union Territories on Urban Governance and Housing for All, where they were asked to implement single window scheme for approval of layout and building permission in all ULBs (Urban Local Bodies). “Can we have single window clearance?” he asked.

The Minister said as part of National Urban Renewal Mission, the government would ensure that 25 percent of the houses in the city were occupied by the weaker sections. According to him, the Ministry was planning to initiate measures to facilitate municipal corporations and municipalities getting themselves credit rated by independent rating agencies, current being adopted by Maharashtra and in some cities on Gujarat.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted every city administration to come up with a dedicated website, publish a weekly e-magazine, digital registry of properties, a directory for urban poor and a facility that reviewed the revenue and workforce of urban bodies.