BJP leaders, mayors hold protest against AAP for not releasing full funds to civic bodies

The BJP leaders and mayors marched from the Civic Centre to the Central Secretariat as part of their protest.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the ruling party in all three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs), on Monday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government has not released even 26% of the funds allocated for the financial year 2020-21.

Delhi BJP President Adesh Kumar Gupta along with BJP Councilors from North, South & East MCD protest at Civic centre against Delhi government for allegedly not releasing funds payable to MCD, in New Delhi. (ANI)

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta along with mayors of the three civic bodies on Monday held a protest against the Delhi government at the Civic Centre, the headquarters of the North and South corporations. The BJP leaders and mayors marched from the Civic Centre to the Central Secretariat as part of their protest.

Gupta said the Delhi government is supposed to pay East, South and North corporation ₹1,677 crore, ₹892 crore and ₹1,568 crore, respectively, this fiscal. These are to be paid by the Delhi government under various heads such as health, education, etc.

“But the Delhi government has not even released 26% of these amounts to the three corporations. It has released just ₹157 crore to the East corporation till September 7. The South corporation got ₹232 crore while the North Corporation received ₹612 crore so far. This clearly shows that the Delhi government is trying to cripple the municipal corporations,” Gupta alleged.

Gupta said the corporations are unable to pay salaries to employees, especially to sanitation workers who have been risking their lives cleaning the city during the times of the pandemic. He said the corporations need this fund more than ever as their revenue from other sources has significantly dropped.

“The revenue from other sources such as property tax, conversion charges etc is not coming in as people are unable to pay due to the slump brought about by Covid-19. Instead of supporting the corporations, the Delhi government is indulging in petty politics,” he said.

The AAP hit back and said the BJP should resign if it can’t fulfil its primary responsibilities. An AAP spokesperson said, “If the BJP cannot run the MCDs, it should resign and hand them over to the AAP. The MCDs have failed to deliver its primary responsibilities be it sanitation, fighting vector-borne diseases, and management of MCD schools due to rampant corruption. Last year, th AAP government significantly reduced deaths due to dengue y making honest efforts and running a very successful awareness campaign. BJP should stop misleading people, release the salaries of employees immediately or resign.”