Release dues: Mayors to Delhi govt
New Delhi: In yet another standoff between the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporations and Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, the civic bodies have accused the government of denying them their financial dues and causing delay in delivery of civic services in Delhi.
On Monday, after meeting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, the mayors of all three Corporations stressed upon the need of immediate release of pending plan funds and due amount, as per recommendations of the third and fourth Delhi Finance Commissions
"To enable Corporations to take up delayed developmental projects and concentrate on the core work related to sanitation, health, urban development and education, the government must releases fund," said Narender Chawla, Mayor, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
He stated that all the Mayors met the Chief Minister in his office to apprise him of the financial crisis being faced by MCDs. Chawla said that Kejriwal sought a time of seven to ten days to discuss the matter with officials.
Chawla said, "Our Corporations are being denied dues under the urban development, transport, education and health sectors for all these years; only an amount of Rs 137.60 crore has been released till the first quarter of 2018-19 against an annual budget proposal of Rs 1,579.19 crore. Moreover, not a single rupee has been released or allotted under urban development and transport sectors."
"The deficiency for 2015-16 is Rs 853.93 crore, for 2016-17 it is Rs 641.56 crore and for 2017-18 Rs 896.33 crore," the South Delhi Mayor further said, adding that the government has not been releasing entire amount of the budget proposed for the MCDs right from 2012-13 to 2018-19.
SDMC has demanded a minimum allocation of Rs 505 crore for 2018-19, for sanitation, facilities in JJ colonies, community centers and development of roads.
