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₹1,051 cr given to MCDs to pay staff: Sisodia
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation confirmed the release of the amount but sought clarification if it was a special fund or money already due to them.
The Delhi government has disbursed ₹1,051 crore to the Capital’s three municipal corporations so that they can pay the salaries of employees engaged in Covid-19 management, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation confirmed the release of the amount but sought clarification if it was a special fund or money already due to them.
Addressing a digital press conference on Saturday, Sisodia accused the east, south and north civic bodies of not paying salaries of employees regularly amid the pandemic.
“It reflects very poorly on the MCDs if they are unable to even pay salaries to medical staff, doctors and nurses who are putting their lives on the line to save people in these unprecedented times. To cope and emerge from this pandemic, Delhi government has issued assistance of ₹1,051 crore to the three MCDs. The amount can effectively disburse salaries to employees who have not received it until now. The Delhi government hopes that MCDs will guarantee that this assistance is not used for any other activities, not diverted in any way, but used only to pay salaries of MCD employees involved in Covid-19 duty,” he said.
Of the ₹1,051 crore, ₹366.9 crore will be given to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), ₹432.8 crore to the North MCD and ₹251.6 crore to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
“Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has ensured that despite the scarcity of resources Delhi is facing due to Covid-19, the state government will aid and support all dedicated frontline workers who are on Covid-19 duty, so that they are able to receive their salaries in a streamlined manner. We have to make sure that our frontline workers in the civic corporations are paid their due salaries on time, by any means,” he said.
Confirming the release of the amount to the three civic bodies by the Delhi government, north Delhi mayor Jai Prakash, however, said on Saturday that the Delhi government should clarify if the allocated amount was the first-quarter fund due to the city corporations, or a special fund for the salaries of employees.
“If it is the grant amount of the first quarter then why was it released after a delay of two months? The first quarter amount is released to all the three corporations in the month of April. I had written several letters to the chief minister to release the amount for the first quarter,” Prakash said.
