Hardayal Library Managing Committee meets Mayor, promised employee salaries

New Delhi: Delhi Mayor and ex-officio chairperson of Hardayal Municipal Public Library Shelly Oberoi met with the library’s Management Committee at Civic Centre on Tuesday to discuss progress related to the improvement of the library.

The library, founded in 1862, has long since been a part of the city’s heritage and in 1942 an agreement with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) where it was given an autonomous status with a 100 per cent grant-in-aid from the Corporation.

The grant had been pending for three years and the employees were not paid their salaries for almost 32 months. Additionally, the electricity and water supply in the building had been terminated because of pending bills.

During the meeting, the issues of the employees were discussed. It was attended by Managing Committee Secretary, Preeti and Joint Secretary, Usha Sharma and other Committee members.

“Salary will be given to all the employees and in the first phase, the salary for the year 2021-22 is being given to 52 employees. In the coming time, after completing all the formalities and investigation, salaries will be given to all the employees,” said the Mayor.

She also instructed the officials to submit the list of all the libraries of the corporation and the report of their employees within two days. The Mayor and the Corporation councillors are expected to check the functioning of the library, the situation of the employees and the pending salaries.

Oberoi added, “The funds given till now for the salaries of the employees have been misused. Unqualified people have been appointed to important positions. We are investigating all the irregularities and work will be done as per the rules.”

Additionally, through a grant released by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, the electricity bill of the Hardayal Library Headquarters along with another branch, worth approximately Rs 5.6 lakh have been cleared .