Mayors sit-in outside Kejriwal's residence demanding dues

new delhi: The Mayors of all three Municipal Corporations of Delhi sat in protest outside the Chief Minister's residence from about 10 am Monday, demanding a combined fund of Rs 13,000 crores in back dues from the Delhi government even as the doctors' strike continued with north-MCD doctors still demanding their salaries.

SDMC Mayor Anamika Mithilesh Singh said that she, along with counterparts Jai Prakash (North MCD Mayor) and Nirmal Jain (East MCD Mayor), will continue the sit-in protest throughout the night and then 24/7 thereafter till the Delhi Government either releases the funds or at least agrees to meet them.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain, who had tweeted earlier in the day saying that the was waiting to meet the Mayors of all three MCDs at the behest of the CM, later tweeted: "Had called the mayors for all three MCDs but they haven't shown up. Seems like they are only concerned with doing politics. MCD has funds for hoardings but they do not have funds to pay Doctors' salaries". However, later at night, his office confirmed that he had met with the Mayors.

Before the meeting, the SDMC Mayor told Millennium Post, "We have been sitting right here outside the Chief Minister's house since morning. His own party-men have been coming in and going out all day. No one has even asked us for water on the other hand. If they are so serious about meeting us, why not come to us? Or call us inside at the very least? Are we now supposed to treat a tweet as an official invitation to meet a government official now? I can show you almost 10 letters that we have written to the Delhi government asking for an official meeting on this matter and for the release of funds which are due to us".

"The SDMC is owed Rs 4 crore, North MCD is owed Rs 6 crore, and Rs 3 crore are owed to the East MCD. Till now we had been asking for funds through the official channel but now we have run out of even our reserve funds and are unable to pay salaries of our staff, that too during the festive season. What will happen if from tomorrow DBCs (Domestic Breeding Checkers) and Safai Karamcharis (Sanitation Workers) stop coming to work?", Singh added.

BJP Delhi President Adesh Gupta said that while the CM had himself said in the Legislative Assembly that the Delhi government owes Rs 13,000 crore to the MCDs, he is going back on his word now. When it comes to taking credit for the good work of the corporations, CM Kejriwal spends on big hoardings and campaigns but is not giving funds to pay salaries to the employees of the MCDs", he claimed.

On the other hand, AAP's Durgesh Pathak has said that "the Central Government is supposed to pay Rs 12,000 crores to the MCDs; under Article 270 (3) of the constitution, it is

their duty".