The Comptroller and Auditor General, CAG, has asked urban local bodies to improve their financial reporting practices to access markets for funding needs.

Speaking at a seminar on the Performance Reporting for Urban Local Bodies in New Delhi today, the CAG, Vinod Rai said, challenges posed by the urban infrastructure deficit call for investments of a scale that require immediate attention.

Mr Rai said, while there have been improvement in the finances of the Central and state governments, neither can meet by themselves, the requirements of urban local bodies. He said, therefore, access to markets and participation by the private sector appears to be the options that need to be actively examined.

Speaking on the occasion, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath pitched for creating a municipal cadre to train people and develop capacity building in civic bodies.

Mr Nath said, the government’s decision to legalise unauthorized colonies in Delhi was based on ground realities. He said, regularizing nearly 1,640 such colonies on government land in the national capital was a tough task for the government as it might be alleged that so much land had been given which constituted presumptive loss the exchequer.