The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday accused the AAP-led Delhi government for financially crippling the three municipal corporations by not only stopping the release of funds but also reducing the corpus amount due to the civic agencies.
The BJP, which is the main opposition party in Delhi, accused the government of not helping the corporation-run hospitals during the pandemic, shutting down vaccination centres and not giving compensation to the Covid-19 warriors employed with the three corporations who died while on duty.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said, “Ever since the AAP came to power in Delhi, it has tried to financially cripple the corporations. The government’s budget in the last seven years has increased from ₹37,450 crore to ₹69,000 crore.But despite the provision for ₹6,828 crore in the budget last year, the corporations were given ₹6,172 crore.”
Last year, the mayors of the three corporations had to stage a sit-in protest for over 10 days outside chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence demanding funds, said Gupta.
The BJP said since the pandemic started, 111 corporation employees--57 from north corporation, 38 from south corporation and 16 from east corporation--have lost their lives while on duty. Gupta said, “Why is the government discriminating against corona warriors employed with the corporations? Why is there no compensation for them?”
{{/usCountry}}The BJP said since the pandemic started, 111 corporation employees--57 from north corporation, 38 from south corporation and 16 from east corporation--have lost their lives while on duty. Gupta said, “Why is the government discriminating against corona warriors employed with the corporations? Why is there no compensation for them?”
{{/usCountry}}BJP MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, said the state government wasted precious time by delaying permission to corporation-run medical facilities to treat Covid patients. Bidhuri said the government closed vaccination centres run by the corporations.
The BJP alleged lakhs of elderly people and those with disabilities did not get pension due to the Delhi government. New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi said, “Pension given to old people or widows was not released by the state government, despite getting records from the corporations. This (pension) could have been of great help to them during the crisis. We demand that the pension be released immediately to beneficiaries.”
Mayor of north corpororation Jai Prakash said, “Five years ago, the pension given by the corporations was discontinued after the Delhi government said that it will pay. We had given the list of beneficiaries to the government. But now, the beneficiaries are not getting the pension.”
Despite repeated communication, the Delhi government spokesperson did not respond.