Probe Dharamshala's Smart City score card: Mayor

SHIMLA: Even as the city has failed to make itself place in the list of 20 smart cities, politics continues over failure of the state to reveal its nomination. Shimla mayor Sanjay Chauhan and deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar in a letter written to the Union urban development minister, M Venkaiah Naidu, have raised objection to the figures presented by Dharamshala Municipal Corporation on the score card.
Both the mayor and deputy mayor have demanded an inquiry from the Union ministry against state government officials for "misguiding" the ministry. The letter stated that there are serious objections to the proceedings sent to the ministry by the state government which speaks of false comments generated by the state.
They said that total salary of Dharamashala Municipal Corporation per month is Rs 22.60 lakh as per the given figures in their own score card, and its total revenue is Rs 2.74 crore. "This means that entire revenue gets exhausted for disbursement of salary of Rs 2.71 crore," they added.
The duo further alleged how Dharamshala city should justify utilization of its funds for capital expenditure. Similarly if they are utilizing the revenue for capital expenditure than how the Dharamshala Municipal Corporation is self-financing its salaries, they said.
The mayor and deputy mayor further stated in the letter that it was also assessed that revenue shown by Dharamshala city is not their own revenue and is the revenue "in grant" as the revenue from water supply is collected by the Irrigation and Public Health Department and similarly property tax is not collected by the civic body.
"Municipal commissioner of Dharamshala submitted a report stating that they pay their staff salaries from the grants, however as per the parameter of scoring salaries are to be paid by own source of urban local body," letter said.
As per point 16 of preceding the evaluation committee had given "nil" against parameter 14 and 15 of score card. Wherein it was pointed that the same criteria should have been followed during earlier evaluation. However considering parameter 14 on JNNURM reforms, the same reforms were to be implemented by an UIDSSMT town, which Dharamshala has not, they claimed.