AAP holds protest over non-payment of salaries to civic employees in Delhi

BJP functionaries in the municipal corporations, in turn, blamed the Delhi government for the delay in disbursing salaries

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers protested against the non-payment of salaries to municipal employees outside the municipal headquarters near Minto Road on Monday. The protesters gheraoed the building and symbolically locked its gates.

Aam Aadmi Party workers protest against the MCD over non-payment of salaries, at Civic Centre, in New Delhi on Monday. (Amal KS/HT Photo)

Vikas Goel, the leader of Opposition in North Delhi Municipal Corporation alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled municipal corporation has not paid current employees their salaries and retired employees their pension for the last three months. “How will MCD employees celebrate Diwali without salary? When preparations for festivals are going on in everyone’s house, there is not even a grain of ration left in the house of MCD employees. How will employees celebrate Diwali without pay?” Goel asked.

Manoj Tyagi, the leader of Opposition in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) said that workers engaged in cleaning Delhi are unable to light stoves in their houses. “AAP demands that if the BJP-led MCD is not able to pay salaries to the employees, then the people of the BJP should resign immediately,” he said.

Prem Chauhan, the leader of Opposition in South Delhi Municipal Corporation said that if the BJP can’t run the municipal corporations and pay municipal employees, then it should learn from the AAP.

BJP functionaries in the municipal corporations, in turn, blamed the Delhi government for the delay in disbursing salaries. Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, the EDMC mayor, said that the civic body has a pending payment of ₹ 525 crore in tax share allocation. “Salaries for September have been released for sanitation workers on a priority basis but remain pending for Group A, B, and C employees. We never faced delays in payment of our tax share during the Sheila Dikshit government,” he added.

Jogi Ram Jain, standing committee chairman in the north corporation, said that the salary of all the employees and pension of retired employees have been released till the month of August, while the salary of safai karamcharis has been released till September. “The salary and pension for the month of September will be released to all the employees and retired employees very soon,” Jain said. “We are paying salaries to the employees through our own sources. Transfer duty of ₹61 crore for the month of August and ₹84 crore for the month of September for the north corporation are due. If the Aam Aadmi Party releases the due funds of the corporations, then the problem of salaries of employees will be completely resolved,” Jain said.