'All payments due to civic bodies cleared, they now owe Rs 8,600 crore to Delhi govt'

New delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has told the three municipal corporations of Delhi that the Delhi government has cleared all its dues to them and that it was, in fact, the civic bodies that owe Delhi government around Rs 8,600 crore. In a detailed letter to the mayors of all three civic bodies after they staged a protest outside CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence, Sisodia presented data countering the mayors' claims.

Sisodia said that the MCDs have outstanding loans from Delhi Government to the tune of Rs 6,008 Crores, they also have arrears of Rs 2,596 Crores to the Delhi Jal Board which adds up to Rs 8,600 Crores owed to the Delhi government. Deputy CM urged the three Mayors to rise above petty politics and focus on the real issue of corruption and financial mismanagement in each of the three MCDs. He urged the Mayors to demand the rightful unpaid amount of Rs 12,000 Cr from the Central government.

Sisodia in the letter gave a breakdown of the dues owed to the state government. "As on 1st April 2020, a total of Rs 6,008 Cr loan is outstanding over the three MCDs, as per records of the Urban Development Department, GNCTD. This includes Rs 1,977 crore outstanding from EDMC, Rs 3,243 crore from NDMC and Rs 788 crore from SDMC," the letter stated.

The CAG report on State Finances of NCT of Delhi also noted that a large amount of unpaid loans (Rs 3,814.89 crore) are due from the three MCDs to the Delhi Government as at March 31, 2018, Sisodia mentioned in the letter.

MCD's own internal audit reports have pointed to complete financial mismanagement of the three MCDs, the Deputy CM said. "In the internal audit report of 2016-17, North MCD's Chief Municipal Auditor found Rs 3,299 crore of financial irregularities. Additionally, the audit reports pointed that South MCD has Rs 1,177 Crore outstanding arrears of property tax but there is no attempt to recover — we all know what that means," he wrote in the letter.