New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday held a meeting with the newly constituted Seventh Punjab Finance Commission and called for a stronger financial framework for Panchayats and Municipalities. He said sustainable finances were necessary for local governments to discharge their responsibilities and deliver civic services.

Mann said the commission had been constituted to recommend how the net proceeds of taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied by the state may be distributed between the state and Panchayats and Municipalities. It will also recommend allocation of the local bodies' respective shares among Panchayats and Municipalities at different levels.

The chief minister described the commission as a...