The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has given the green light to Andhra Pradesh’s forward-thinking proposal to establish Municipal Shared Service Centres (MSSCs). This approval comes with a substantial recommendation for a ₹50 crore grant, allocated under the 15th Finance Commission, marking a significant step towards modernizing urban administration in the state.
In an encouraging development, the State government proudly announced on Thursday that the initial installment of ₹25 crore has already been disbursed, kickstarting this transformative project.
Spearheaded by the Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) Department, this ambitious initiative is designed to completely overhaul service delivery across 123 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Its core strategy involves intelligently pooling resources, harnessing cutting-edge technology, and significantly boosting financial sustainability for a more efficient future.
Principal Secretary S. Suresh Kumar enthusiastically characterized the project as a “blueprint for modern municipal governance.” He highlighted its perfect alignment with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s “Swarna Andhra-2047” vision, underscoring a commitment to progressive development.
At its heart, the MSSC model proposes a comprehensive centralization of critical services such as finance, payroll, procurement, and legal functions. Simultaneously, it will drive the digital transformation of property tax, various certificates, and utility management, utilizing advanced tools like GIS mapping, drone surveys, and an innovative ‘One Household–One QR Code’ system. Furthermore, citizen interactions will be dramatically simplified through dedicated Ward Seva Kendras, convenient doorstep delivery, efficient WhatsApp-based grievance resolution, and robust multilingual AI support, ensuring accessibility for all.
Key Objectives for a Brighter Urban Future
The project’s key objectives are far-reaching: significantly boosting property tax revenues, strategically unlocking municipal land potential through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models, prioritizing comprehensive wastewater reuse initiatives, and achieving substantial energy efficiency across vital urban services including streetlighting, water supply, and overall infrastructure management.
Mr. Kumar emphasized that this groundbreaking project is poised to elevate transparency, considerably improve municipal revenues, and deliver much faster, truly citizen-centric services. Ultimately, it aims to establish a new national benchmark for inclusive, technology-powered urban governance, inspiring other regions to follow suit.