Rajshahi: Revenue earning of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has doubled compared to the previous regime breaking syndication during the last six months. RCC has taken the initiative of restoring discipline in all the existing revenue-earning installations and points contributing a lot towards boosting revenue incomes worth Taka 20 crore from the previous seven crore.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Abu Saleh Muhammad Nur-E-Sayeed, chief revenue officer, stated that political tyranny, syndication and other relevant complexities were reduced to a greater extent, doubling the revenue earnings. All eligible contractors are participating in the tender process of hats, ghats, and markets without any hindrances and free from all sorts of illogical influences as the present administration has created congenial atmospheres in the activities, he said.
This year, for the first time, the RCC authority collected revenue worth Taka one crore from Shahid Zia Shishu Park for three years through tender, while it
used to collect revenue worth Taka 17 lakh annually in the previous time, the chief revenue officer remarked. Additionally, revenue worth Taka 13 crore has been collected by the city corporation from the city beast hat this year, compared to Taka 3.62 crore in the previous year.
In the previous year, the city corporation earned revenue worth around Taka seven crore through leasing out the existing hats, ghats, markets, public toilets, parking stands, and ponds, and the figure is expected to stand at Taka 18 crore during the upcoming Bangla year. Dr ABM Sharif Uddin, chief executive officer, mentioned that they have ensured congenial atmospheres in all the procurement processes where contractors are taking part spontaneously. The situation has improved and is expected to further improve in the future.
“We have started getting better results in terms of revenue earning through ensuring transparency and accountability. We are giving emphasis on enhancing revenue earning from conventional and non-conventional s
ectors,” he added. Highlighting the importance of competition in the bidding process of public procurement, Khandaker Azim Ahmed, administrator of the RCC, said they are working relentlessly for protecting the interest of the city corporation as well as the city dwellers.
He emphasized that building the city corporation as a pro-people institution is imperative, and there will be no more syndication in the process of revenue collection. Talking to BSS, Subrata Kumar Paul, chief consultant of Centre for Development Initiative and Research (CDIR), noted that the previous leasing out process was concentrated into political tyranny and mismanagement that deprived the city corporation of proper revenue earning. The government higher authorities concerned should play pioneering roles towards ensuring transparency and accountability in the leasing out activities of the local government institution, he added.