North MCD will go to court now

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to move court to seek funds from the city government.

North Delhi Mayor Ravinder Gupta said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be responsble if sanitation workers go on strike due to non-payment of salaries.

“We met the CM and Deputy Chief Minister and discussed the financial situation of the civic agency at length over two weeks ago. They assured that they would release funds but we haven’t heard from them since then,” said Gupta. “Hence, we are compelled to move court to demand our rightful share,” he added.

The issue was raised in the special house meeting of the civic agency on Monday.
The North Corporation is in red and not able to pay salaries to its employees on time. It needs nearly Rs 200 crore a month to pay salaries and other benefits to its over 70,000 employees.

Both the councillors from the ruling and opposition parties condemned the city government for its “indifferent attitude towards the civic agency”.

“We are demanding our legitimate share of funds which were not released by the Delhi government for many years. It amounts to approximately Rs 2,000 crore,” said Standing Committee chairman Mohan Prasad Bhardwaj.

“The civic agency doesn’t even have funds to even give pensions to the beneficiaries,” he added.

Congress councillors also balmed the Centre besides the city government.

“How can we only target one party (AAP) when the BJP-ruled Centre has been a mute spectator to the financial woes of the civic agency,” said Leader of Opposition Mukesh Goel.

“The AAP party-ruled city government has just completed four months. The municipal corporations were under the Centre’s rule for one year prior to that, what did the BJP do to help their financial condition,” he added.

Some councillors even asked the senior leaders to sit on a hunger strike to make the city government give funds to the civic agency.