Centre asks urban bodies to mobilise own resources

Hyderabad, Jan 5: The central government has asked municipal bodies to mobilise resources by levying taxes wherever necessary to improve basic civic amenities. Underlining the need for reforms for better urban governance, union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu urged the urban bodies to go for credit rating and bring transparency and accountability in their functioning. He advised them to mobilise resources locally by levying or revising existing taxes after convincing people that they will get better infrastructure and services. He also suggested that they raise loans from banks and national and international financial institutions by improving credit rating. Naidu said they should not merely look to the central government and the states for funds. He was addressing municipal commissioners of cities with a population of more than a lakh.