Vellakovil City Development Plan - Municipal

City Development Plan for Vellakoil Municipality SMEC India Pvt Ltd
Final Report TNUDP III
REFORMS AND ACTION PLAN FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
A City Development Plan (CDP) is essentially a road map to achieve a set of development
objectives within a specific period. This CDP has identified gaps in municipal service delivery
and institutional management, ascertained by analysis and stakeholder feedback. The proposed
interventions for the Municipality are in the form of reforms, action plans and strategies to
achieve the same.
Strategies and Action Plans are the elements which bridge the gap between the Proposed
Reforms and implementation. The following sections detail out the strategies and Action Plan
plans for the proposed Reforms and interventions in the areas of revenue enhancement,
privatization, computerization initiatives, energy efficiency and municipal service delivery.
6.1 PRESENT SCENARIO IN URBAN REFORMS
“Reforms and change are critical elements in development process; they become more
significant in urban development in the context of growth of towns and consequent pressure on
infrastructure and services, growth of poverty, etc. This is compounded by institutional
constraints like in capacity, fragmented structures, functional overlaps and outdated processes
and procedures. In addition, there has been a paradigm shift in governance from the traditional
top-down model. As a result governance reforms have become imperative for efficient delivery
of services, provision and maintenance of infrastructure and to provide efficient and responsive
governance to the people. Recognizing the significance of reforms to provide efficient and
effective governance, the State Govt. has initiated and implementing several urban sector
reforms during the last few years. “
The following are the key reforms implemented by the GoTN and GoI :
1. Devolution of funds: 3.5% of State’s total tax revenue passed on to urban local bodies.
2. State Finance Commissions: Three consecutive state finance commissions were
setup for recommendations to Government.
3. Setting up of TNUDF: A successful private-public partnership initiative to tap the capital
market.
4. Accrual Based Accounting System: The new accounting system has been
implemented in all the urban local bodies.
5. Computerization and E-governance of select Municipal functions have been
successfully implemented in all urban local bodies.
6. Urban indicators: Performance assessment of ULBs initiated by the CMA, Government
of Tamil Nadu.
7. Revision of Property tax : With effect from April 1.2008, subject to a maximum of 1.25
times the existing tax structure.
8. Debt monitoring cell: It has been established with office of CMA with the objective of
collecting financial information on individual ULBs, assisting them in making realistic
financial projections and facilitating the Urban Local Bodies to access the Capital
Markets by information dissemination from CMA office.
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