'ULBs in Haryana fail to catch up with pace of urbanisation'

Haryana government today said Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) had failed to catch up with the pace at which state has urbanised, especially during the past ten years.
ULBs are important institutions of self-governance providing municipal services and civic amenities.
"Admittedly, most were funds-starved but even such bodies as had funds at their disposal, did not invest them in creating targeted infrastructure as expected of these engines of urban growth," Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said.
"It is true that the ULBs were woefully short of funds. But at the same time these were short of ideas too. While they did not have the freedom to decide on the rates for the levies they are allowed to charge, the then state government sat smug over matters and failed to egg them on, through the district administration, to create much needed local infrastructure", the Finance Minister said.

According to a white paper, the revenue deficit of all ULBs, put together, grew about 38 times from Rs 46.4 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 1,791 crore in 2013-14.
Their resources fell far short of their operational liabilities but then there was a palpable lack of quality in civic management too, said the Minister, adding that expenditure was not targeted to create civic infrastructure.

Besides other things, the course correction would involve greater devolution of funds to the ULBs, he said.
Haryana has been urbanizing rapidly since 1966. While a decadal growth of 9.8 per cent between 2001 and 2011 has been recorded in population in the rural areas, the urban areas have recorded a growth rate of 44.6 per cent in this period.

The urban population registered an absolute increase of 27,26,799, from 61,15,304 in 2001 to 88,42,103 in 2011.
Hence, the share of Haryana's urban population has increased from 29 per cent in 2001 to 34.88 per cent in 2011, the Finance Minister said.
Nearly half of the state falls within the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi.
This belt experienced higher rate of urbanization. Eleven districts of Haryana fall in the NCR and two more districts, namely Jind and Karnal, are yet to be notified, he said.
Haryana has 78 ULBs consisting of nine municipal corporations, 19 municipal councils and 50 municipal committees.

"Having diagnosed the problems that plague the ULBs with the help of the White Paper, we are committed to doing the needful to ensure that these important democratic institutions play the role mandated to them", he said.