To tackle staff shortage, MCD to hire over 2,300 private gardeners

Of the 7,872 sanctioned posts for gardeners, only 3,446 are currently occupied, with situation particularly acute in north and east Delhi

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started the process of hiring around 2,360 private workers, in a bid to address the staff shortage for maintenance of its over 15,000 parks, officials aware of the development said.

An MCD park in a bad shape at Rajendra Nagar. Nearly 40% of sanctioned posts of gardeners are vacant. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The civic body has already invited bids to hire a private agency to increase manpower in its horticulture department, which would include workers such as gardeners, drivers and technical experts, officials said.

“The gardeners will be deployed in areas and wards where there is shortage of gardeners and the deployment will start from next month,” said a senior MCD official, adding that the tendering process for the project, estimated at ₹5 crore, is likely to be completed by next week.

MCD’s horticulture department maintains 15,226 of the city’s parks spread over an area of 5,172 acres. Around 90% of these are categorised as “housing area parks”, officials said.

As far as staff shortage is concerned, the official MCD data shows that over 43% of posts for gardeners are lying vacant. Of the 7,872 sanctioned posts for gardeners, only 3,446 are currently occupied, with situation particularly acute in north and east Delhi.

According tothe state government’s Delhi Parks and Garden society, there should be ideally one gardener for every 0.5-acre green space. However, at current occupancy levels in the city, every gardener manages 1.5 acres of area of MCD parks.

For instance, in the jurisdiction of the erstwhile North MCD, one gardener looks after around five to six parks in an area that has around 6,102 parks. In east Delhi, an area with 2,173 parks, every gardener takes care of at least four parks.

Officials said that the project will involve hiring of 2,340 gardeners, 18 drivers for operating machinery, and three technical assistants who would be experts in ornamental gardening to oversee the operations in badly affected zones.

Staff shortage is not restricted to field posts alone.According to MCD data, out of the 15 sanctioned posts for deputy director in the horticulture department, 11 are vacant. Moreover, 13 out of the 27 assistant director posts are vacant while 75 out of a total 125 sanctioned posts for section officers are yet to be filled.

Besides, there is an unequal distribution amongvehicles sanctioned to pick up green waste. Among the 12 zones, MCD’s horticulture department has a total of 31 vehicles, of which 20 are allocated for areas in south Delhi, which has around 6,900 parks. On the other hand, the two zones of Shahdara North and Shahdara South in east Delhi, that have 611 and 1,562 parks respectively, have no sanctioned vehicle.

Padmavati Dwivedi, an environmentalist and tree expert, said that essential manpower has to be ensured for nature-based work. “We are in a mess due to the neglect of our green spaces,”she said.