The Punjab Government allows transfer of municipal properties to government departments. The Local Government Department issued guidelines on March 2 for transferring council/municipal corporation properties to boards/corporations and public sector undertakings for public purposes.The guidelines cover sale of residential and commercial properties, and allotment of land to charitable organisations and political parties at a reserve price. This follows previous issues with transferring Powercom properties to PUDA, which was stayed by the high court.The Section 4 of the Punjab Management and Transfer of Municipal Properties Act, 2020, has special provisions for the sale of residential and commercial properties. Similarly, the Punjab Management and Transfer of Municipal Properties Rules, 2021, also have special provisions for allotting the land of urban local bodies to any charitable social organisations or various national and regional political parties at a reserve price.Earlier, there was no clear provision for transferring the municipal properties to the departments, boards and corporations of the state government.According to the notification, the Local Government Department is receiving several proposals from the municipal councils/corporations of the state to sell or lease urban properties to other departments of Punjab, especially for schools, hospitals, playgrounds, sewage treatment, etc.The Local Government Department has prepared a mechanism for the transfer of urban properties, under which there is also a detail about the formation of a committee to determine the eligibility, purpose and price, etc. There are currently 14 municipal corporations in Punjab, while there are 152 municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats. The boundaries of large municipal corporations have also been increased in the past.