Odisha Govt Begins Process To Transfer Rs 23,848 Cr To PRIs, ULBs

Bhubaneswar : Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Odisha will get Rs 23,848 crore over a period of six years as per the recommendation of the 5th State Finance Commission.

Process for transfer of the aforementioned fund to these bodies by the government has started, the Information & Public Relations department has tweeted today.

While PRIs will get Rs 15,715.60 crore, ULBs will get Rs 8132.51 crore between 2021-21 to 2025-26 fiscal, the tweet added.

At a high-level monitoring committee meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy here on Tuesday, Finance Secretary Ashok Kumar Meena had said that the funds would be transferred to PRIs and ULBs in tranches.

At the meeting, it was resolved that the funds would be utilized for projects like drinking water, water harvesting structures, sanitation, solid waste management, running of projects through solar power and construction of primary school buildings.

The funds can also be spent on maintenance of health sub-centres, Anganwadi centres, livestock centres, roads, culverts, creation of water bodies in urban areas, the establishment of water quality testing labs, critical gap in drainage network, drainage of stormwater and maintenance of other community assets for which no specific maintenance grant is available.