The Urban Development Ministry has suggested that municipal corporations and municipalities should get themselves credit rated by independent rating agencies.
Union Urban Development and Housing Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said it was important for urban bodies to have their credit worthiness measured in a transparent way to enable them to raise loans.
“It is easy today to raise loans, but it is important to be able to repay them. A credit rating will help the local bodies realise their repayment capacities,” he said at the first regional consultative workshop on urban governance.
Maharashtra model Naidu said a credit rating system for urban bodies existed in Maharashtra and, to some extent, in Gujarat, and was showing good results.
He urged the southern States to go in for such a rating system.
Credit rating is measured based on the revenue of the town, its expenditure and plans and the means to execute them, he pointed out.
He expressed dissatisfaction over the present state of affairs in most municipalities in the country.
In this context, the Minister hinted at higher taxation at the urban bodies’ level, stating that people should be prepared to pay higher taxes to participate in the development of towns and cities.
“I am taking this as my mission,” he added.
Municipal Commissioners and officials from the southern States participated in the workshop, which will be followed by similar workshops for the eastern, western, northern and central regions.
Later, there will be an all-India mayors’ conference, in which the suggestions from these workshops will be compiled to form part of the proposed national urban development programme.
Swachch Bharat Naidu also nominated 18 new ambassadors for the Swachh Bharat campaign for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The new ambassadors include playback singer SP Balasubramanium, MPs Kavita and Jayadev Galla, actors Pawan Kalyan, Amala Akkineni and Nitin, former cricketer VVS Laxman, chess player Koneru Humpy, ex-badminton star Pullela Gopichand, industrialists BVR Mohan Reddy, lyricist Ashok Teja and Yashoda Group of Hospitals chief GS Rao.