The state government's claim that merging nearby municipalities with the Asansol Municipal Corporation will ensure "holistic development" has been questioned by several administrative officials who have pointed out that excluding six panchayat areas will pose problems in implementing central projects.

A section of officials The Telegraph spoke to said central rules for allocating funds were different for rural and urban areas and there were doubts if the panchayats not included in the Greater Asansol Municipal Corporation would get the benefits of the Centre's JNNURM 2.0 project, likely to be launched soon.

Polls to the Asansol corporation are due on Saturday.

The state government has merged the Raniganj, Kulti and Jamuria municipalities with the corporation but has left out the six panchayat areas that fall in between. These rural areas - Ballavpur, Egara, Jemari, Rotibati, Tirat and Amrasota - fall between Ward 38 and 37 of the greater corporation and are like islands surrounded by the municipal zones.

"The urban areas that come under the municipalities will definitely benefit from the project. But excluding certain rural areas will pose problems for the administration in implementing the plan. For instance, if the government wants to connect Asansol with Jamuria or Raniganj through a new road or a flyover, the panchayats will fall in between. This will become a barrier in securing funds from the Centre as the projects are meant for urban areas," an official said.

While announcing the merger on June 11 last year, urban development minister Firhad Hakim had said: "The state cabinet has decided to merge the Raniganj, Kulti and Jamuria municipalities with the Asansol Municipal Corporation.... The decision will help residents access the benefits of mega cities."

Nabanna officials had said the minister wanted to drive home the point that a bigger civic body would fetch more money from the Centre and aid the process of development. But the exclusion of the rural areas have triggered questions if the government was at all serious about its "holistic development" claim.

An official explained that no urban development project will be allowed by the Centre if it passes through a rural area. "There are projects exclusive for rural areas. Moreover, rules for allocating funds are different for rural and urban zones."

The Centre's JNNURM 2.0 scheme will focus on roads, flyovers and drinking water projects.

Administrative officials fear they will encounter huge problems while laying pipelines for drinking water projects - a scheme most sought-after by the residents who face scarcity during the summers.

"The pipelines will pass through the rural areas not included in the corporation. The administration will face two problems. First, it needs permission from the panchayats to lay the pipelines. Second, the government will face allegations of neglect if the pipelines are not laid," another official said.

According to 2011 census, these six gram panchayats have a population of 1,06,294 spread over 59.28sqkm. As average population in wards in urban centres range between 25,000 and 35,000, the inclusion of these wards would have increased the number of wards to 110 from existing 106.

After the BJP won the Asansol Lok Sabha seat by at least 70,000 votes last year, there were allegations that the Trinamul government delayed the polls to the Asansol corporation fearing adverse results. There were also allegations that the government used the merger as an excuse to put off the polls for later.

Sources said Trinamul did not want to take a chance fearing discontent in the six panchayats, which the party won uncontested in 2013 following several incidents of violence.

"We have been in power in five of the six gram panchayats.... But in the 2013 rural polls, we won most seats uncontested. There could be a discontent. The battle for Asansol will be tough and no one wanted to take a chance," said a Trinamul leader in Asansol.

Residents of Raniganj, Jamuria and Kulti also expressed unhappiness at the distance they have to travel to the corporation office in Asansol for paying taxes and other work.

While Raniganj is over 20km from Asansol, Jamuria and Kulti are 15km each.

"We will have to travel all the way to Asansol to pay tax and renew our trade licences. This will involve a lot of time," said Shiv Kumar Aggarwal, the secretary of the Barakar Chamber of Commerce.