Chandigarh, April 26: — A day after urging greater financial support for the cash-strapped Municipal Corporation (MC), Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla on Saturday met UT Chief Secretary Rajiv Verma to press for a dedicated revenue share and new grants.
Babla, during a half-hour meeting at the UT Civil Secretariat, raised concerns over the MC’s fiscal challenges, noting that the corporation’s financial health could improve if the Administration allocated its rightful share from the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA).
She sought a portion of the revenue collected through vehicle registrations and transfers, pointing out that the MC maintains nearly 60% of the city’s road network—1,860 km—without any earmarked funding from RLA collections.
“The MC plays a crucial role in sustaining Chandigarh’s infrastructure, but it does not receive any specific share from the RLA revenue, despite managing the majority of the city’s roads,” Babla said.
The Mayor also addressed the financial strain of maintaining 22 villages recently brought under MC jurisdiction.
She pointed out that these areas, earlier under Panchayat Samitis, previously received annual maintenance grants, which have since been discontinued.
“These villages require consistent support for essential services such as road maintenance, drainage, water supply, sewerage, and public parks,” she said, urging the Administration to restore similar grants.
Babla assured Verma that all funds would be deployed transparently and strictly for intended civic services, benefiting both urban and rural sections of the city.
She called on the Administration to act swiftly, saying, “Timely support is crucial to maintaining and improving public amenities for all residents.”
