AAP seeks probe into functioning of three BJP-run civic agencies

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday demanded a probe into the functioning of BJP-run municipal corporations, alleging that 22,853 ghost employees are on their payrolls.

The cash-strapped civic bodies are incurring losses of Rs 100 crore every year due to the alleged fraud, the AAP said.

While asking for a probe from the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, the ruling party held the BJP responsible for fund crunch faced by all the three corporations.

“The AAP would like to question the BJP on how many times did it meet the central government or the Lieutenant Governor during the eight months of President’s rule to seek financial assistance for the MCDs?” the party said in a press statement.

Earlier, the AAP government had denied bailing out the civic agencies, saying that the Centre had refused Rs 600 crore grant for the local bodies in Delhi.
The ruling party alleged that the functioning of civic bodies is replete with wasteful expenditure.

 “The Delhi MCD for its website has been allocated Rs 70 crore and Rs 13 crore has been spent till date. This website is static with no search functionality,” the AAP said, claiming that upgrading the site was not an expensive proposition.

It  slammed the MCDs for underutilisation of funds.
The three corporations, on an average, could not spend even 40 per cent of the total allocated Budget in 2013, the party said. 

Citing a news report, the AAP said that for combating dengue and malaria, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation only managed to spend Rs 18.8 crore against a sanctioned budget of Rs 45.5 crore.

The AAP also attacked the corporations for poor parking facilities in the city. It claimed that only seven multi-level parking projects could begin despite a massive funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
The Delhi Congress too has set up a seven-member panel to look into alleged irregularities in all the civic bodies.