Moga MC owes ₹25 crore to improvement trust

The MC is supposed to pay 2% of its annual income to Moga Improvement Trust for development schemes; has been defaulting on it for past 22 years, records reveal

The Moga municipal corporation owes over ₹25 crore to the Moga Improvement Trust as part of contribution funds, which have piled up due to non-payment over 22 years, reveals official records.

Moga Improvement Trust chairman has written multiple letters to the MC, seeking its income details and payment of pending funds. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Officials said Section 68 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act 1922 made it mandatory for the municipal corporation (MC) to pay 2% of its annual income to its sister local body — Moga Improvement Trust — for development schemes.

However, since 1999, neither the MC paid the contribution funds nor any previous trust chairman raised the issue, it is learnt.

Finally, Vinod Bansal, chairman, Moga Improvement Trust, has written multiple letters to the corporation, seeking its income details and payment of pending funds, but has not received any response yet. According to a recent reminder sent to the MC, even in 1999, it had paid only ₹51.75 lakh of the ₹1.38 crore dues.

“We have sought the pending contribution funds from the MC. I have raised this issue because we all are here for the city’s development,” said Bansal.

However, MC commissioner Surinder Singh said that he was not aware of the issue. “I have to look into the records,” he said.