HP gets Rs 47.37 crore grant to establish Municipal Shared Service Centres: PWD minister

Shimla, Oct 15 (PTI) PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday said that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has approved a grant of Rs 47.37 crore for setting up Municipal Shared Service Centres (MSSCs) in Himachal Pradesh.

Singh, in a release, stated that these centres would help overcome major challenges faced by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), such as a shortage of manpower, limited financial resources, and a lack of technical support.

"The state government is working to strengthen urban governance, promote digital service delivery and ensure efficient municipal administration to the people of the state. For this purpose, 15 MSSCs will be established to serve 74 ULBs under the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission ", said the minister.

Singh further said that these MSSCs would act as one-stop facilitation hubs, and offer citizens easy, transparent and uniform access to various municipal services such as issuing birth and death certificates, trade licenses, pet registrations, property tax payments, garbage bill collection and grievance redressal similar to the functioning of Passport Seva Kendras.

"In addition, the centres will also serve as centralised units for accounting, payroll management, and vendor payments for the members of ULBs. They will further provide doorstep services like tax and bill collection in smaller towns, ensuring convenience and efficiency for the public," said the minister.

He said that the centre would release the funds in two tranches and 50 percent of the funds would be released at the time of sanction and the remaining on operationalization. "The first installment of Rs. 23.68 crore had already been released which was a significant step toward strengthening the institutional and operational capacity of these centres" he added.

"To ensure inclusive implementation and effective outreach, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) will play an active role in delivering municipal services at the ward level, and it will generate awareness and facilitate citizen participation" remarked Singh. PTI COR MR