The BJP-led North Delhi Municipal Corporation has reportedly demanded Rs 7,000 crore from the city administration, saying it has not received its share from the Delhi government since the trifurcation of the municipal body in 2012. The agency said that the delay in the discharge of the money has forced it to send the release of councillors’ fund.
The city government is said to have stopped the release of Rs 303 crore to the corporation in the current financial year. The administration was to give Rs 994 crore to the corporation, but has reportedly given Rs 546 crore to the corporation so far. The municipal body has an estimated expenditure of Rs 2,290 crore for the current financial year for salaries and pensions. The agency has liability worth Rs 1,270 crore and other liabilities are going to add up to Rs 3,650 crore by March-end.
While the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has been utilising all the facilities and services at the Civic Centre, the North Delhi corporation has been bearing all the expenditure of its maintenance. The North Delhi municipal body reportedly wants the South Delhi agency to pay it Rs 472 crore.
After the trifurcation, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit had promised that all the three municipal bodies would be given grant-in-aid to compensate for the loss due to trifurcation. However, the municipal bodies have reportedly received no amount till date.
It is reliably learnt that the North and East municipal bodies have been facing severe financial crunch and have not been able to even properly disburse the salaries of their employees. Due to lack of funds, the East Delhi civic body has even stopped its one social welfare schemes — pension for elderly, physically-challenged and the widows. It has reportedly failed to disburse the salaries to its employees for the past few months.
The East Delhi municipal body has also failed to release funds for its development and maintenance activities. It has not been able to disburse the salaries of its teachers and fourth grade employees for the past four months.
