North Delhi corporation may move HC for Rs 328 crore funds ‘deducted by AAP govt

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has said it is reeling under an extreme financial crunch. As per its December 1 letter to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, the corporation has only Rs 3.5 crore left. The BJP-led corporation blames the Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi government for aggravating the financial crisis.

While the corporation is claiming that the Delhi government has reduced Rs 328 crore from the proposed outlay of the “grant-in-aid” for the current financial year, the AAP government has said it doesn’t owe even a penny.

Now with the efforts to get immediate financial help from the Delhi government appear failing, the corporation is mulling the idea to approach the Delhi High Court for disbursement of the disputed amount.

Former North Delhi Mayor and BJP leader Jai Prakash told India Today that they would file a petition in the Delhi HC to get Rs 328 crore dues from the AAP government.

“The Delhi government, in its interim budget, had promised to give Rs 2,068 crore to the corporation. In the name of a revised plan due to COVID-19’s impact, the AAP government deducted Rs 328 crore from the proposed fund layout,” Jai Prakash told India Today.

He added, “Our work during the pandemic increased and our workers including sanitation and health workers were working round the clock.”

“The corporation is mulling approaching the Delhi HC challenging the deduction in the grand-in-aid. Very soon we will file our case in the HC. We would make a plea that the deductions should be done away with and Rs 328 crore should be released immediately to the corporation. They (Delhi government) should have increased our budget instead of deducting our funds,” the BJP leader said.

The statement comes a day after the Delhi government’s response to the letter written by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. The AAP government had maintained that they don’t owe any money to the North Delhi corporation.

LG Anil Baijal’s letter to the Delhi government urges it to release funds.

On December 1, the corporation wrote to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal seeking his help to tackle the extreme financial crisis. In its letter, the corporation said, “the payment of salaries to our employees is getting inordinately delayed due to severe financial crisis. The corporation is also facing repeated threats of frequent strikes by its employees for want of timely payment of salaries and wages.”

It informed the Delhi LG that salaries and pensions of the majority of its staff except for medical staff and sanitation workers had been pending for the past three months.

The corporation claimed that the situation has aggravated due to the major deductions “in the proposed outlay of grant-in-aid to the corporation for the current financial year” by the Delhi government. The letter said that the AAP government has reduced Rs 328 crore funds in its revised estimates of the budget.

According to the corporation’s estimates, due to the deductions made by the Delhi government, two months delay in salary and pension disbursement, and Rs 240 crore dearness allowances liabilities, the total gap in their funds has risen to nearly Rs 1168.60 crore. If the pending payments to contractors, suppliers, and others are counted in, the North Delhi corporation says its financial situation will become grimmer.

Acting upon the request of the corporation, LG Anil Baijal wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on December 2. In his letter, the Delhi LG raised the issue of the financial crisis being faced by the corporation and how it is triggering strikes by their staff.

“It has been informed that while the Budget Estimates of 2021-2022 for North DMC have been reduced by Rs 328.60 crore, additional financial liability on account of enhanced DA (Rs 240 crore) and pending salaries, pensions etc (Rs 600 crore) has accrued resulting in the present financial crisis,” LG Baijal said in his letter to CM Kejriwal.

“In view of the above, North DMC has requested that an amount of at least Rs 328 crore deducted as per the Revised Estimates may be released on urgent basis for immediate payment of pending salaries, pension, terminal benefits, etc. to the employees of the Corporation to tide over the present crisis.”

Baijal sought the Delhi Chief Minister’s intervention on the issue and appealed to him to release Rs 328 crore funds as being requested by the corporation.

The AAP-led Delhi government refuted the claims of the corporation and said that they don’t owe any money.

“Delhi government has already transferred all funds owed to the three corporations as per its constitutional obligations and not even a single rupee is held back,” the AAP government said.

Notably, in its statement, the Delhi government went on to claim that it is the Central government that owes the three municipal corporations of Delhi roughly Rs 12,000 crore and accused the BJP-led civic bodies of failing to recover dues and property tax arrears.

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