AAP councillors protest outside Delhi mayor's office over user fee rollback proposal

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors held a sit-in outside Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh's office on Monday, protesting the omission of a proposal to roll back user charges from the House agenda. Following the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls last month, when the BJP came to power and appointed its mayor, the party on April 25 promised to roll back the user charge. The AAP councillors alleged that a proposal to roll back user charges -- brought forward in the interest of Delhi residents -- was not included in this month's House session agenda by the BJP mayor.

The protest was led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the MCD Ankush Narang. The councillors, carrying placards, sat outside the mayor's office and raised slogans, according to a statement. "Since the beginning, the BJP has had no intention of working for the people of Delhi. All they do is make false promises and avoid real work. We had submitted a proposal to remove the user charges but the BJP is deliberately avoiding it," said Narang. The AAP councillors claimed they would continue their protest until the mayor agreed to meet them and discuss the issue. On April 7, the MCD said according to the Solid Waste Management (SWM) bylaws, a "user fee" must be collected for garbage collection, transportation and disposal services. "The user fee, as outlined in the SWM norms, is being implemented based on categories specified in the bye-laws, and its enforcement is being monitored by the Supreme Court," the MCD said.