Delhi govt seeks Rs 3,000 cr from Centre towards MCD dues

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and sought Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre to pay pending salaries of sanitation workers, doctors and teachers of Municipal Corporations in the city.

In an hour-long meeting with Jaitley, Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia explained to him the Delhi government’s financial constraints and sought assistance for the civic bodies. “The Chief Minister asked for central assistance for six months of salary payment for these municipal corporations which is around Rs 3,000 crore,” a source said. 

Later talking to reporters, Sisodia said Kejriwal presented before Jaitley the financial condition of Delhi and the Centre is looking into the matter. “We presented before him Delhi’s financial condition. Delhi gives around Rs 1.37 lakh crore tax to the central government and in return, gets Rs 325 crore from <g data-gr-id="29">central</g> share. The Deputy Chief Minister exuded <g data-gr-id="28">confidence</g> of getting assistance from the Centre. “We have requested them... by analysing all data, some result will come out in next few days.

“The condition of MCD is also bad. If something can be done about their 5-6 month salary... if <g data-gr-id="23">Central</g> government can support. Then by hiking the property tax or by making some reforms the Delhi government will cope up later,” he added.

Both North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North MCD) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) are cash-strapped, unable to pay salaries of many employees. A section of the striking sanitation workers <g data-gr-id="26">have</g> lately been protesting against the AAP dispensation after the corporations held Kejriwal government “responsible” for their financial woes. On Monday, Kejriwal had announced that his government will release pending salaries of sanitation workers, doctors and teachers of two Municipal Corporations for April and May.