Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao today has directed all the 73 municipalities in the state to become open defecation free (ODF) by the end of December.

The minister also ensured that every household in the municipality will have one individual latrine by June 15 next year. KTR further announced the constitution of an eight-member committee with the senior officials to suggest reforms in sanitation, revenue and overall development of facilities in the municipalities. The report will be submitted by the committee in a month, said KTR.

A review meeting was held with all the municipal commissioners of the state. The TRS government is committed to provide infrastructure facilities in all the municipalities including new district headquarters. And for this new infrastructure, the government will be raising Rs 5,000 crore loan from financial institutions, said KTR.

KTR besides providing civic amenities in the municipalities, he directed all the municipalities to set up Citizen Service Centres (CSC) for resolving grievances of the people and further assured them that the government would release 5-10 lakh to every civic body for providing the same.

The minister also asked the commissioners to promote use of LED lights and set up LED sale counters in the offices.

KTR further stressing on the need to generate more revenue, said all the civic bodies should secure 100% tax collection in the current financial year. Since the Layout Regularization Scheme (LRS) was one of the main sources of revenue, he told the authorities to speed up the processing of applications, said the minister.

SUPRAJA