A CORRESPONDENT
JAGIROAD: The Development Authorities in Assam constituted under the provision of the Assam Town and Country Planning Act, 1959 (as amended), by the Government of Assam for planned development of some of the prospective towns, have turned into a white elephant. The Assam Government has so far constituted 24 Development Authorities in the State but due to lack of proper planning on the part of the Directorate of Town and Country Planning under Urban Development Department (UDD), Government of Assam, all 24 Development Authorities in the State are on the verge of closure.
The development authorities are empowered to collect fees as per the building by-laws against issue of building construction and land sale no objection certificate (NOC). There is no other income source of Development Authorities in the State, stated Swapan Bhattacharjee, chief advisor, and Sanjib Borgohain, general secretary, of the All Assam Development Authority Employees Joint Council (AADAEJC).
Bhattacharjee and Borgohain said that fund collected against issue of NOC for construction of building and sale or sub division of land was not at all sufficient to cater to the minimum needs to run the Development Authorities. As such, the State Government allocated grants-in-aid for each Development Authority for office expenditure. But they alleged that the State Government since the last couple of years did not provide any grants-in-aid to these Development Authorities for which the employees were facing acute financial hardship following non-payment of their monthly salary for up to 60 months.
Bhattacharjee and Borgohain, while expressing grave concern, said that the State Government, while implementing the Constitution's 74th amendment, did not consider the pathetic condition of the Development Authorities. As per the Constitution's 74th amendment, the operating area of Development Authority has been curtailed and the town portion has been transferred to Town Committee or Municipality for which a drastic downfall in respect to the revenue collection on the part of the Development Authorities has occurred. They also said that presuming the situation, the All Assam Development Authority Employees' Joint Council (AADAEJC) had suggested the State Government to take some initiatives in favour of the Development Authorities. But they alleged the State Government did not take any such measures and as a consequence, the Development Authorities in the State were facing acute financial crunch.
Bhattacharjee and Borgohain appealed to UDD Minister Ashok Singhal, State Finance Minister Ajanta Neog and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to look into the matter seriously. They also reiterated their demand to accord provincialization and preparation of service rule of the employees at the earliest.