Cash-strapped East Corporation set to regularise 5,000 temporary workers

 The East Corporation passed a proposal on Wednesday to regularise over 5,000 contractual workers despite having no funds to pay salaries to its employees next month.

Mahak Singh, a councillor from Brahampuri, tabled the proposal in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s House meeting.

“More people (contractual employees) are required by different departments functioning under the civic agency. The corporation has to engage manpower to make these departments carry out their work efficiently,” the proposal said.

“So the civic agency appeals to the city government that these contractual staff must be regularised and given salaries,” it added.

The East Corporation is already in the red as it has not paid salaries to its employees on time or at all for the past couple of months. There are over 27,000 employees under the east civic agency.

Asked if the civic agency can afford to regularise contractual workers, a senior official said, “It was a private member's resolution, it will be monitored and studied carefully before implementing it.”

But the official said the civic agency had cleared the salary for December. An official with the finance department said some departments of the East Corporation might not have given salaries to its staff for over three months.

“The civic agency requires Rs 87 crore a month just to pay salaries and other benefits,” he added. Asked if the corporation will be able to generate that much cash to disburse salaries, the official said, “We are still trying to figure out a way to ensure that salaries are given to the employees as soon as possible.

The East Corporation is trying to fix an appointment with the Delhi Government to seek financial help. “We are planning to take up the issues of grants in aid and our shares of taxes with the Delhi government,” he added.