Delhi government orders probe against North MCD for alleged Rs2,400 crore fraud

The BJP, which runs all three municipal corporations in Delhi (MCD), denied the allegations, calling them baseless

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday that the state government has ordered a probe against North Delhi municipal corporation on charges of misappropriation of funds to the tune of over Rs2,400 crore.

Satyendar Jain. (File photo)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- which runs all three municipal corporations in Delhi (MCD) -- denied the allegations, calling them baseless.

“There has been misappropriation of funds to the tune of more than Rs2400 crore in the North Delhi municipal corporation. It concerns payments between the North and the South Delhi municipal corporation. We have ordered a probe into it which will be headed by an additional chief secretary-rank officer in charge of the urban development department of the Delhi government,” said Jain, who holds the health, home and urban development portfolios in Delhi.

He added, “Rs 2,400 crore is a big amount and such misappropriation is unbelievable, especially when the municipal corporations claim that they are not able to pay salaries to doctors, nurses, teachers, sanitation workers and other employees.”

Jain’s allegations and the probe come at a time when mayors of the three MCDs have been protesting outside the residence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for more than three days now, demanding disbursement of the funds which, they claim, the Delhi government owes to the civic bodies, against the backdrop of sanitation workers threatening to go into a strike for not getting salaries .

When asked about claims by the three MCDs that the Delhi government owes them Rs13,500 crore, Jain said the government has always disbursed payments to the MCDs on time, with no instance of default or delay, in accordance with the applicable finance commission report, and it is the MCDs which owe money to the Delhi government.

BJP’s Delhi unit spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “This is a baseless allegation by AAP to divert attention from the issue concerning the money that they owe to the three municipal bodies. There has been no misappropriation of funds. The south MCD owes Rs2,547 crore to the North MCD as rent for using the premises of the civic centre building in central Delhi which is officially a property of the North civic body. The rent is owed since 2012 when the trifurcation of the MCDs happened. In the current budget of the MCDs, there is also a provision for waiver on the rent payment that is due but it is awaiting approval of the House. The Delhi government can get it probed by any agency.”