In the new financial year beginning on April 1, the civic body is set to roll out revisions to charges of several civic services in Chandigarh. Read on to find out what services will get dearer and other major changes, such as wage revisions.
Parking rates — The current parking rates in Chandigarh for a car are Rs 14 and for a two-wheeler are Rs 7. These rates will remain the same as the Chandigarh civic body has not yet tendered out the city’s parking lots to any contractor or firm. The civic body manages the city’s parking with a total of 89 parking lots.
Water tariff — The water tariff will increase 5 per cent starting April 1. This hike will be reflected in the next billing cycle. Although the Chandigarh mayor has been opposing the hike, Administration officials have stated that the annual hike rates have been notified due to the bylaws.
As a result, water tariffs in all categories, whether domestic, commercial, or industrial, will increase. However, there has been no response from the Chandigarh Administration regarding the resolution passed by the house, which stated that every family would receive 20,000 litres of free water.
Electric vehicle charging stations — The operation of all the electric vehicle charging stations was supposed to commence on April 1, as per the deadline set by the UT Administrator. However, CREST officials have stated that due to a recent theft incident, it may take an additional month to make the charging stations functional. Out of the 53 EV charging stations that were supposed to be established, around 40 have been installed so far.
Swacchata curriculum in schools — The authorities have decided to introduce a book on swacchata (cleanliness) into the curriculum in Chandigarh schools only after the Lok Sabha election results in June due to the Model Code of Conduct in place now.
The book will be introduced class by class to 50,356 students in every government school throughout the academic year 2024-25. In Class 9, 14,224 students are enrolled, while the exact numbers for Classes 10, 11, and 12 are yet to be determined. The commissioner of the municipal corporation stated that the initiative will initially be taken up in schools that require improvement in areas such as sanitation and waste segregation.
New minimum wages — The Chandigarh Administration has announced an increase in the minimum wages, known as DC (wages decided by deputy commissioner), effective from April 1. These rates have been hiked by 8 per cent for the financial year 2024-25. All government offices, boards, corporations, public sector undertakings, and autonomous bodies of the Chandigarh Administration can adopt these wages.
This increase means that an employee who was earning Rs 20,000 per month will now receive Rs 21,600. Similarly, an employee who was previously paid Rs 24,563 will now receive Rs 25,791, and so on.
New excise policy — Chandigarh’s new excise policy will be effective from April 1. Of the 97 liquor vends, 31 remain unsold as of now.
Water challans — Teams from the Chandigarh civic body will begin issuing fines to those who waste water. The drive will start on April 15 and continue until June 15. Anyone caught washing their cars or verandahs using drinking water will be fined.