Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Goa government has overhauled the system for providing financial assistance to municipalities, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) and the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), introducing a one-year framework governing the sanction, release and use of grants.
The new arrangements have been notified by Director of Municipal Administration Brijesh Manerkar through separate orders for the three categories of urban institutions. The latest notifications replace the previous grant-related provisions.
Municipal councils will be eligible for assistance across several areas, ranging from civic infrastructure and development projects to pre-monsoon preparedness, fire-related arrangements during the monsoon and solid waste management.
Financial support can also be sought for salaries of common-cadre and deputation personnel, honorarium payable to elected representatives of B and C class municipal councils, disaster management activities, acquisition of land, statutory payments and expenses arising from court directions.
The framework also provides for assistance under schemes benefiting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, besides support for daily-wage personnel involved in solid waste management.
However, municipalities will have to meet documentation requirements before seeking funds. Applications will need to be backed by the relevant council resolution, project report, technical sanction, budget provision and documents establishing ownership of the property concerned.
The Directorate of Municipal Administration will process such requests, with actual disbursement dependent on the availability of funds and the priority assigned to individual projects.
For employee salaries, assistance will be released in two instalments during the year. Grants meant for development, solid waste management and disaster management will have to be spent within 12 months of sanction.
Civic bodies will also have to furnish utilisation certificates within two months after the expenditure is incurred, strengthening the monitoring of government assistance.
The revised system provides for multiple layers of financial scrutiny. Accounts and grants will be subject to audits by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Director of Accounts and Directorate of Urban Development.
The government has separately prescribed an annual assistance mechanism for GSUDA, covering major central and State urban development initiatives.
Among the programmes eligible for support are AMRUT 2.0, Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, PMAY 2.0 and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission, apart from urban development programmes approved by the State government.
GSUDA can also utilise the assistance for employee salaries, administrative and office expenditure and projects specifically cleared by the government.
The notification places restrictions on government-funded assets. Any asset created using such grants will remain vested in the government and cannot be transferred, disposed of or put to another use without obtaining prior approval.
GSUDA’s financial records will be subject to scrutiny by a qualified chartered accountant as well as government-appointed auditors.
The revised framework effectively links the release of public funds to project readiness, prescribed documentation, time-bound utilisation and audit compliance.
