Chandigarh, Sept. 23 -- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday called for a stronger financial framework for urban and rural local bodies, stressing the need for a disciplined state fiscal path and durable fiscal institutions to ensure financial sustainability and effective grassroots governance.

Chairing a meeting with the newly constituted Seventh State Finance Commission, Mann said it has been constituted to "make specific recommendations for distribution of taxes, duties, road tax and others amongst the panchayats/municipalities and the state, besides making further recommendations for improving the fiscal health of these civic bodies". The commission is a constitutional instrument for ensuring fiscal decentralization to Panc...