Kolkata: CAG to Conduct Special Audit of 16 West Bengal Municipalities on Building Plans and Property Tax

The Comptroller and Auditor General will audit 16 municipalities across West Bengal — from Asansol and Siliguri to South Dum Dum and Krishnanagar — as part of a special drive covering select municipalities in 22 states, IANS reported on Monday.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk26 October 20263 min readRead in all 3 languages

Kolkata, Oct 26: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) will conduct a special audit in a total of 16 municipalities in West Bengal as part of the CAG's special audit drive in select municipalities in 22 Indian states, IANS reported on Monday.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The main purpose of the special audit is to review the extent to which building plans are getting clearances from the municipal authorities concerned, as well as the extent of property tax collections by those municipal bodies. The audit period will be from 2021-22 to 2025-26 — a period during which, the report noted, the boards of all 16 municipal bodies were under the control of the then ruling Trinamool Congress.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The 16 bodies include Contai and Haldia in East Midnapore district, Asansol Municipal Corporation in West Burdwan, Siliguri Municipal Corporation, Darjeeling and Kurseong in Darjeeling district, South Dum Dum, Halisahar, Baranagar and Taki in North 24 Parganas, Uluberia in Howrah, Domkal in Murshidabad, Uttarpara-Kotrung and Sreerampore in Hooghly, Bolpur in Birbhum and Krishnanagar in Nadia district.

Source: Nation Press

16West Bengal municipalities under special CAG audit

22States covered by the CAG special audit drive

2021-22 to 2025-26Audit period for building plans and property tax

The drive has been named 'Horizontal Review'. A state government official said the office of the Examiner of Local Accounts in West Bengal had informed the state government about the initiative in a letter on October 5, before the recently concluded Durga Puja, and that the state municipal affairs and urban development department then ordered the municipalities concerned to cooperate by providing documents and information, in a letter forwarded on October 13.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

According to the official, the special audit will begin at the end of October and continue till 2027. It will examine the process of approving building plans, identify potential areas of illegal construction and recommend amendments. On property tax, it will examine the registration of taxable properties, the method of assessment, arrears of revenue, tax collection and the property revaluation system. The audit report will be presented in the state assembly, the official said.

Source: Nation Press

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