Implementation of 74th Amendment Act likely to get a push?
With the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre and also in state, it appears that the decks are clear for the implementation of the 74th Amendment Act of the Constitution to empower local bodies for rapid development without any interference by the state or central government.
“Uttar Pradesh has been a state where this Act was not implemented and mayors had no power, infact efforts were made to curtail powers of mayors at every step with draconian state acts pushed in by urban development minister,” said mayor Dinesh Sharma.
He said, “It was unfortunate that the previous state government never wanted to give powers to local bodies and the mayor. Relations between urban development minister Azam Khan and all the mayors of the state hit a nadir when he introduced UP Nagar Nigam Amendment Bill 2015 which was stalled by governor for over one year through which mayors could be removed for financial irregularities.”
Azam Khan, known for his outspoken nature, attacked the governor for stalling the bill which should have given all the powers to state government for ‘punishing’ the mayors instead of giving them the autonomy and protection, said sources.
74TH AMENDMENT ACT OF THE CONSTITUTION
The 74th Amendment Act gives constitutional status to the municipalities. It promotes three tier democracy and local self governance. The amendment aims at revitalizing and strengthening the urban governments so that they may function as effective units of local government.
Mayor Dinesh Sharma says, “With the implementation of 74th amendment act in the state, local bodies would be having more financial and administrative powers like in Mumbai. Works like construction of roads, drains, drains, sewer are done by several agencies like Lucknow Municipal Corporation, Lucknow Development Authority, Jal Nigam, PWD, etc. Due to lack of coordination, many projects get delayed or are stalled. After the 74th Amendment Act, the bodies like LDA, and other construction agencies would be merged with local bodies and there would be better synergy and pooling of resources and development work would gather pace.”