JOIN USFunds reach MCD a day after staffer kills himself
The recently released funds to the East Corporation by the AAP government reached the municipality a day after its class IV employee committed suicide, allegedly because of financial distress.
The last salary Hridesh Sharma got was on April 22, for the month of March.The reason behind his drastic step is not yet clear, but the suicide again highlighted the tussle between the Delhi government and the municipalities over the release of funds for salaries.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-run municipal corporations routinely complain that they do not get funds in time to pay salaries to their employees. Sharma, 45, who worked in an MCD school, hanged himself at his house in east Delhi's GTB Enclave on Tuesday morning.
On Wednesday, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation received Rs 92.29 as global share, the civic agency's cut in city government's taxes, which it can use to give salaries to its staff.
But the Delhi government said it had sanctioned the amount of Rs 92.29 crore as Basic Tax Assignments (global share) to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation for paying salaries to its employees on Tuesday itself.
“In all, the Delhi government has given over Rs 170 crore to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation for 2016-17 financial year,” an official said.
The Delhi government claimed on Friday that it has already released the first instalment (25 per cent) of funds for 2016-17 fiscal to the three municipalities.
A senior official with the finance department of the East Corporation said that the civic agency had got Rs 78 crore in April to be spent only on the education sector.
“We had received around Rs 78 crore in April as grants in education, which we could spend only in education sector like maintaining school buildings. We received Rs 92.29 crore on May 25. The amount was credited into our account at around 3 pm,” said the official.
“Salaries to some of them were released as and when the corporation received the money. The amount will be credited to their accounts through Electronic Clearance System (ECS),” he added.
Job to wife
Mayor of East Corporation Satya Sharma said on Friday that the civic agency is mulling to give a job to the victim’s wife and the family will be given Rs 10,000 as funeral charges.
On Thursday, the AAP government had requested the Centre to provide Rs 4,087 crore to Delhi as special grants-in-aid for 2015-2020 period as per 14th Central Finance Commission.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday requesting him to include Delhi in the scope of grants-in-aid while drafting the terms of new Central Finance Commission.
“The 14th Central Finance Commission allocated grant-in-aid of Rs 2,87,436 crore for local bodies for 2015-2020 period. However, Delhi has been omitted from this grant altogether on the argument that only states are covered under the scheme of Central Finance Commission,” the letter had said.