Chandigarh: The Punjab government has paved the way for transferring properties owned by municipal councils and municipal corporations to government departments and public sector bodies.
The department of local government issued a notification on March 2 laying down guidelines for transferring urban local body properties to boards, corporations and public sector undertakings of the Punjab government for public purposes.
Earlier, a similar move to transfer properties of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited to Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority had begun, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the transfer.
New guidelines framed
Under the new notification, rules have been framed to allow municipal properties to be sold or leased to government departments, boards and corporations for public welfare projects.
The Punjab Management and Transfer of Municipal Properties Act, 2020 already contains provisions for the sale of residential and commercial properties. Similarly, the 2021 rules allow allocation of urban land to charitable organisations and political parties at reserve prices.
However, there was no clear mechanism earlier for transferring municipal properties to state government departments, which often led to hurdles in implementing public welfare projects. The new rules are expected to remove these obstacles.
According to officials, the local government department had received several proposals from urban local bodies seeking permission to sell or lease municipal properties to other government departments.
Punjab currently has 14 municipal corporations and about 152 municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
Workers’ federation opposes move
Municipal Councils Workers Federation state president Gurpreet Singh Walia opposed the move, saying many councils are already facing severe financial stress.
He argued that instead of strengthening urban local bodies, transferring their assets to the state government could weaken their financial base. Walia warned that such steps could undermine the autonomy of municipal councils and even threaten their long-term existence.
