Remove anti-people conditions on funds, MCD tells Kejriwal

North Corporation Mayor Ravinder Gupta wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking cancellation of the “anti-people” conditions imposed for releasing funds to the municipalities to pay salaries to their employees.

Earlier this month, the Delhi government had issued Rs 693 crore, of which Rs 551 crore was in the form of loan, to the North and East Corporations on a condition that no fresh recruitments would take place at the civic agencies, particularly for Group IV employees comprising safai karamcharis and beldars.

Gupta added the funds were released by the Delhi government with “anti-common man” riders like removal of contractual teachers and nurses in a phased manner.

“Removal of contractual teachers and nurses would hamper the functioning of the corporation apart from affecting them financially. It shows the AAP government’s double standards. Kejriwal had made tall claims of regularising the contractual employees in his party manifesto,” said Gupta.

He said the AAP government is indulging in anti-people decisions to fulfil its political aspirations. The mayor said the Delhi government should remove such conditions and take steps to regularise them. He also demanded the funds be made available to the corporations at the earliest.

Fund-starved North and East corporations’ employees, including sanitation workers, teachers and engineers, went on strike on January 27 demanding timely payment of salaries and clearance of arrears.

Two days later, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff also joined the agitation. South Corporation’s sanitation workers had struck work showing solidarity with them.

Besides the AAP government’s bailout package of Rs 693 crore to the East and North Corporations, the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung offered Rs 300 crore loan from Delhi Development Agency (DDA) to make the municipalities persuade their employees to call off their agitation.

The municipal employees unions had said the amount offered was not enough to clear the arrears of the employees.

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation requires over Rs 100 crore a month to pay salaries and other benefits to its over 32,000 employees. Even the North Corporation is in the red and it needs Rs 171 crore to pay salaries and other benefits to its over 70,000 employees every month.