The one-day meeting will be inaugurated and conducted by the Union Urban Development Minister Shri Ram Jethmalani. Among the various points of discussion in this meeting, there will be focus on the present status of urban local bodies following the implementation of the Constitution (74^th Amendment) Act, 1992, role of urban local bodies in the implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and reforms in the field of municipal administration.

    The meeting is intended to evolve consensus on the process of decentralisation of democracy at the grassroots level to achieve the goal of making the municipality self-reliant in real terms as envisaged in the Constitution. (74^th Amendment) Act.

    The other items that may come up for discussion will include devolution of adequate financial resources to urban local bodies, the freedom to urban local bodies in fixing tax rates and user charges, administrative powers to elected representatives of local bodies, training needs for the cutting edge staff , status of report of State Finance Commissions, property tax reforms, district planning committees and metropolitan planning committees. The broad census that may emerge in the 26^th meeting of the Council is intended to help the Government take policy decisions to make urban life livable and hassle-free .

    The last (25^th ) meeting of the Central Council of Local Government and Urban Development was held in May 1994. In that meeting, 15 resolutions concerning various aspects of Local Self-Government and Urban Development were adopted. The two important resolutions related to reforms in property tax system and taxation of Central Government Properties.
 
 

    Speaking on the occasion Shri Jagmohan said: " Telephone subscribers can now take their Telephone Directories while collecting their morning milk." He said that this innovative facility is in addition to the normal distribution through the offices of the Telephone Exchanges and the purpose is to avoid inconvenience to the subscribers in obtaining the New Telephone Directories. The Minister said that this customer friendly measure will greatly facilitiate the public and is part of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)'s drive for streamlining and providing efficient telecom services.

    The residents of the particular locality have only to present the paid copy of the telephone bill of the billing cycle of either March/April 1999 or of May/June 1999. Alternately new telephone directories can also be obtained by exchanging with the old ones.

    The vans of the MTNL with sufficient number of copies of Telephone Directories (1999), would visit Mother Dairy Milk Booths from 15^th May, 1999 from 7.00.A.M. to 10.00.A.M. in the morning and from 5.00.P.M. to 8.00.P.M. in the evening to facilitate the customers to avail Telephone Directories.

    In the first set of dates i.e. from 15^th to 20^th May 1999, 96 locations would be covered. For remaining booths in other areas customers are requested to see subsequent advertisement in the newspapers. There are about 16 lakh telephone users for whom telephone directories have to be distributed by the MTNL.