SHILLONG, JAN 17: The working group constituted by the Meghalaya State Planning Board (MSPB) On Friday emphasized on the need to streamline the revenue sharing process between the state government and the three Autonomous District Councils of the state.
The decision was taken at a review meeting conducted by the working group under the chairmanship of John F Kharshiing with the GHADC, KHADC and JHADC here on Friday.
However, only GHADC official attended the meeting.
At the meeting, one of the issues that were brought before the working group is the inability of the state government to provide clarity over the revenue sharing on major and minor resources and it was felt that there is a need to enhance the shares to the ADCs.
“We would soon submit our report to the MSPB to recommend to the state government on the need to speed up the constitution of the Meghalaya State Finance Commission (MSFC) in order to streamline the revenue sharing process between the state and the district councils,” Kharshiing told reporters after the meeting.
The district councils are pressing for an increase in the sharing ratio at least to 50:50.
According to Kharshiing, the law department has informed that the process for constituting the Commission is in its advance stage. He said, “The Commission function is to determine the revenue sharing between the state government and the district councils. This would improve the revenue health of the district councils.”
The working group will also recommend on the need to increase the manpower of the different departments in the GHADC. According to the GHADC officials, there is huge shortage of manpower. At present, the total staff strength in GHADC is 1200 in which Rs 3 crore is spent for salaries monthly.
The council said that it is in the process of proposing the setting up of district council courts in all the districts of the region.
Kharshiing said that the working group will also recommend to the board to propose to the state government for the allocation of funds for introduction of Information Technology department in the council. The department will facilitate enhancement of the council’s revenue generation, he said.
The working group function is to review the gaps, compile the report and submit to the MSPB chairman Salseng Sangma for necessary recommendation to the state government.- By Our Reporter
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