Municipal corporations demand dues, Delhi govt says paid already

A media advisor to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “The court made it clear last month that Delhi government has no dues left.”

The three municipal corporations have asked the Delhi government to release the entire fund for the first two quarters of this financial year. The Bharatiya Janata Party-governed civic agencies claim that the government has released just 16% of the Rs 4,000 crore (approx.) due for the first two quarters.

In an interview to HT, Kejriwal had said on Saturday, “Last month the Delhi high court in its order made it clear that the MCDs do not have any pending dues from the Delhi government.

A media advisor to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “The court made it clear last month that Delhi government has no dues left.”

BJP leaders say that it has become impossible to carry out routine works and salaries are due for months. With the start of the monsoon, corporations say additional staff has to be hired to carry out fogging as large numbers of domestic breeding checkers are deployed on Covid-19 duty.

The corporations are feeling the pinch more this time, as their revenue from advertising, property tax, toll, parking, etc has gone down due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

According to the three civic agencies, of the Rs 3,928 crore (for the first two quarters), they have received just Rs 624 crore from the Delhi government so far.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Anamika Singh said of the Rs 1,157 crore, the corporation has just received Rs 145 crore from the government. The North corporation officials said of Rs 1,571 crore for the first two quarters, the Delhi government has released just Rs 388 crore for the first quarter. Officials of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said it was the worst affected as it has got just Rs 91 crore against the scheduled payment of Rs 1,200 crore.

North civic body mayor Jai Prakash said he had raised the issue with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. During the monsoon, Jai Prakash said, the civic bodies have to step up the drive to check on mosquito breeding to ensure there is no outbreak of malaria and dengue.

“But most of our DBCs are deployed on Covid-19 duty. We urgently need money, as we will have to hire additional people to check breeding and do fogging. Despite repeated requests, the government has not released the entire funds. Our revenue has also dropped due to Covid-19. This has made the situation very tough for us. There are other development works such as road repair after the monsoon etc which we have to do. For this we need money,” said Jai Prakash.

Officials of the East Delhi civic body said, “We have paid salaries only to sanitation workers so far. We are yet to pay salaries to other employees,” said Nirmal Jain, EDMC mayor.

The BJP has hit out at the Delhi government for not supporting the three civic agencies, which are equally involved in Covid-19 management, in this “hour of crisis”.

“We have requested the government several times to release the funds on time. Like the central government helped the Delhi government to bring the Covid-19 situation under control, the Delhi government should also help the civic bodies in this hour of crisis,” said Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, leader of the opposition in the Delhi Assembly.

In an interview to HT, Kejriwal had said on Saturday, “Last month the Delhi high court in its order made it clear that the MCDs do not have any pending dues from the Delhi government. Whatever we had to give has been given to them from our end.”

He added, “But, I acknowledge that in this pandemic even the MCDs, like other authorities and administrations, are badly hit financially. So, in all the meetings that were held, I specifically also sought money for the MCDs. Keeping the politics aside, if MCD workers do not get their salaries on time, it will lead to a big mess in Delhi.”