Performance Grants to the Urban Local Bodies under the 14th Central Finance Commission, Amendment to Notification

What the amendment changes

G.O. (Ms) No. 164 of the Government of Tamil Nadu, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, dated 16 November 2016, substitutes paragraph 3(iv) of the notification published on pages 1 and 2 of Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 258, dated 23 December 2015.

The substituted paragraph deals with two administrative functions connected with performance grants under the 14th Central Finance Commission:

• Arranging publication of service level benchmarks for the respective urban local bodies each year.
• Selecting the urban local bodies that are eligible to receive performance grants.

The amendment was published as Notification No. II(2)/MAWS/766(a)/2016 in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 275.

Authorities given responsibility

The amended paragraph authorises the following officials to make the required arrangements:

• The Director of Municipal Administration.
• The Director of Town Panchayats.
• The Commissioner, Corporation of Chennai.

These officials may arrange for the annual service level benchmarks of the urban local bodies under their respective administration to be published in the concerned District Gazette. They are also authorised to select eligible urban local bodies.

Who is affected

The Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department amendment directly concerns urban local bodies seeking performance grants under the 14th Central Finance Commission. It also concerns the named officials responsible for publishing benchmarks and selecting eligible bodies.

The wider notification heading refers to eligibility criteria, the procedure for selecting eligible urban local bodies, and permission for urban local bodies to engage a professional Chartered Accountant for guidance in compiling accounts. However, the amendment reproduced here changes only paragraph 3(iv), covering publication of service level benchmarks and selection of eligible urban local bodies.

Relevance to property matters

G.O. (Ms) No. 164 does not contain provisions about land ownership, title, registration, planning permission, land use, building approval or property taxation. Its stated subject is the administration of performance grants to urban local bodies. A property buyer or owner would therefore mainly encounter it as part of local body administration, rather than as a document determining rights over a particular property.