Real test implementation of report

4th Finance Commission suggests steep hike in MCDs' share in govt taxes

The municipal corporations say that tabling of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission report was the city government's compulsion but the real challenge will be to abide by the recommendations which propose a steep increase in the civic agencies’ share in government's taxes, from 5.5 per cent to over 12 per cent.

Chairman of the standing committee in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation Radhey Shyam Sharma said that the Third Delhi Finance Commission had proposed 5.5 per cent ‘global share’ – cut in city government’s taxes – for civic agencies. But the corporations are getting only 4 per cent share and 1.5 per cent has been reserved for ‘Municipal Reform Funds’, he added.

“It will be interesting to see how the city government will pay the civic agencies their increased share as per the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission,” said Sharma.

“We have not received any amount under the Municipal Reform Funds,” said an official with East Corporation.

As per the South Corporation, the city government owes Rs 570 crore under the Municipal Reform Funds to the civic agency alone for the past three years. “It owes a total of around Rs 1,500 crore as Municipal Reform Funds altogether to the three civic agencies for the last three years,” said Sharma.

The civic agencies have been at loggerheads with the AAP government over releasing grants of corporations, and deducting allocations every year is violating constitutional provisions and trying to weaken civic bodies.

Mayors of all the three corporations had met the AAP government on these issues but no action has been taken so far. Sharma has even filed a petition in the High Court for getting funds from the Delhi government.

The corporations blame the city government for weakening them by not releasing funds on time and deducting amount on yearly basis instead of increasing the allocations on education, sanitation and other development work.

“We are not getting proper allocations and citizens of Delhi are suffering due to this,” said Sharma. “I had filed this writ petition mentioning all the facts so that all the legal rights of corporations could be protected and proper civic conditions can be given to citizens of Delhi,” added Sharma.