Deputy CM writes to Delhi mayors over unpaid teachers' salaries; MCDs hit back

New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday wrote to all three mayors of Delhi, expressing his disappointment over the non-payment of salaries to teachers in schools run by the civic bodies inspite of several appeals and

protests.

Sisodia said that the MCDs are only interested "in peddling lies and indulging in shameful politics" instead of resolving the issue. In the process, they have "caused unprecedented pain to the families of thousands of teachers. He said that the Delhi Government has not only paid the MCDs their due tax share but also given them loans, of which Rs 6,008 crores are outstanding as of April 1 this year. Of this amount, East MCD owes Rs 1,977 crore, North MCD owes Rs 3,243 crore and South MCD owes Rs 788 crore.

In his letter, Sisodia has also said that the three MCDs owe a large amount in unpaid loans to both, the Delhi Government as well as the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Moreover, the funds that were owed to the MCDs have already been released to them. "No amount is due from the Govt of NCT of Delhi...any other figure that the Mayors of MCDs are demanding...is fictional and an attempt to divert the attention of (the) public from the deep financial mismanagement and corruption inside the MCDs", Sisodia wrote.

South MCD Mayor Anamika Mithilesh Singh, has said that the letter is based on baseless and inaccurate facts. "On the one hand, they are giving us (the three MCDs) our dues (Rs 13,000 crores) and on the other hand they are throwing false allegations at us by misrepresenting the facts".

"The Delhi Finance Commission is constituted by the Delhi government whose recommendations are accepted by the Delhi Government but still they have not released the outstanding funds as per the Third Finance Commission, Fourth Finance Commission and Fifth Finance Commission", she said.

"Delhi Government has sent this letter to us earlier as well, and we have replied to it as well. Now they have sent it again as a reminder. Why can't they simply release the funds which are rightfully ours? Why are they not listening even to the State Finance Commission? Till when will we keep exchanging letters?", North MCD Mayor Jai Prakash told Millennium Post.