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Cong accuses AAP govt for not utilising green tax
New Delhi: Delhi Congress on Thursday blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the city for not utilising the money collected as ‘green tax’, even as Delhiites
New Delhi: Delhi Congress on Thursday blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the city for not utilising the money collected as ‘green tax’, even as Delhiites are breathing toxic air.
In a press conference, Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said that from 2015 to 2019, the Delhi government had collected R1174.67 crores in the name of ‘green tax’ from the people of Delhi. However, out of this fund only R272.51 crores has been utilised.
“The air quality has reached alarming levels and instead of purchasing pollution control masks for school children and utilising the fund to control dust, the AAP government is only indulging in lip service,” said Chopra.
He said that out of the R272 crores used, R265 crores was spent by the AAP government for the Delhi-Meerut regional rapid transit system (RRTS) on the orders of the Supreme Court.
“Statistics are startling. Numbers show that 58 children die every day in Delhi due to pollution and the government cannot even invest in buying masks for them,” he said.
Data provided by the Congress to the media also shows that nearly R400 crores was lying with the central government, while the municipalities in Delhi is grappling for resources to enforce pollution control measures on-ground.
Delhi Congress spokesperson Mukesh Sharma said that there should be a CBI initiated on the scam.
“The AAP government selected its own party members as volunteers to man the odd-even scheme paying them R600 per person. How much is the government spending on their uniforms and jackets? While the actual areas that require investment is being ignored,” Sharma said.
Despite repeated attempts the AAP government refused to comment on the allegations. However, the municipal agencies were quick to blame the AAP government for their shortage of funds.
“We don’t get any money from the environment compensation cess. In fact, we aren’t even getting our dues in the form of share of central taxes from the Delhi Government, leave alone anything from ECC,” said Bhupender Gupta, Standing Committee Chairperson, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
