NEW DELHI: With the finances of North Delhi Municipal Corporation in a grim condition, lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has interceded on behalf of the civic body with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In his letter sent earlier this month, the LG requesting the CM to “personally intervene” in the release of funds.
“The municipal corporations have been key stakeholders and partners in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic for more than one and half years. However, the non-availability of sufficient funds due to deductions in the budget estimates of the corporations has remained an area of concern,” Baijal wrote.
Sanjay Goel, commissioner of the north corporation, claimed that Delhi government reduced the disbursals by Rs 328.6 crore this year. He had written to the LG pointing out that while the state government had reduced its funds provision this year, the dearness allowance liability had increased by Rs 240 crore. This only added to the paucity of funds, which had delayed salaries and pensions amounting to Rs 600 crore.”
With the corporation unable to pay salaries for two months, Baijal said to Kejriwal, “I will be grateful if the above request of North Delhi Municipal Corporation for the release of Rs 328 crore can be considered favourably in larger public interest to enable the corporation to make timely payment of salaries to the employees to enable uninterrupted delivery of essential public services.”
Earlier, due to a strike called by doctors, paramedical staff and nurses over delayed salaries and the non-implementation of revised dearness allowances, six healthcare centres run by the north corporation face a lot of difficulties in providing care to patients, admitted Jogi Ram Jain, chairman of the civic body’s standing committee, in another letter to the LG. He also said the state government hadn’t released the funds requested in the LG’s letter to the CM.
“In order to avoid any unpleasant situation arising due to a strike by health workers during the Covid pandemic, the north corporation released the salaries of all doctors and other health staff for the months of September and October by delaying the salaries of certain other staff and withholding the pension and salary of group D staff,” the letter explained.
Later, in a statement on Wednesday, the state government issued a statement in response. “Delhi government has already transferred all the funds owed to the three MCDs as per its constitutional obligations and not even a single rupee is held back. It is the Centre that owes the corporations Rs 12,000 crore,” the statement said. “The Centre gives grants to all municipal corporations across the country, based on a formula of Rs 488 per person of the population. However, it is not paying grants to the three MCDs for the last 17 years. Further, thousands of crores of property tax arrears are also pending from various Central government agencies and for free advertisements on hoardings. The MCDs can pay salaries to its employees by recovering these dues but are not doing so to extort and defame the Delhi government.”
