As the indefinite strike by sanitation workers continues in the city, the Delhi BJP accused the AAP government of failing to “discharge responsibilities” and urged chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to rise above “party politics.”
The city BJP, in an open letter to Mr Kejriwal on Friday, urged the Delhi chief minister to release to the three municipal corporations about Rs 3,000 crores pending on the basis of the recommendations of the Third Delhi Finance Commission.
“The Delhi government must know the municipal corporations spend their funds not just on the pay and allowances but they also look into health services, primary education, midday meal, sanitation which come to about Rs 5,000 crore per annum,” Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay wrote in the open letter written to the chief minister of Delhi.
He said that the employees of the three municipal corporations are suffering due to non-payment of their salaries and their family members too are facing hardship. “In place of fulfilling its obligations, the (AAP) government is raising questions on the appointment of sanitation staff, most of who are working on temporary basis. In contrast, the Delhi government is offering temporary jobs to thousands of party volunteers at the cost of lakhs of rupees and also benefiting the party workers on the pretext of various functions,” the letter stated.
Mr Upadhyay also pointed out that the Delhi government is raising questions on the expenditure of the municipal corporations while making a four-fold increase in the pay and allowances its MLAs. The Opposition party claimed the AAP government has forgotten that the municipal councillors do not get even a paisa as their salary and even the meeting allowance is also very little.
The letter written by Mr Upadhyay also claims that the AAP government has released only non plan fund to the corporations and it is publicising it as payment for the salaries of the employees due to political malice. In this context, the letter also includes a table showing the funds received as non-plan fund and the pay bill of the three corporations during the current year. The BJP announced that starting Saturday, workers of various morchas and districts would assemble at Nirman Vihar Metro station in East Delhi and march towards the Delhi Secretariat in support of agitating employees and demanding the release of the funds to the three municipal corporations.
The Delhi Congress, on the other hand, accused both the AAP and the BJP for the “pathetic situation.”
