Permission for study tours for the East Delhi Municipal Corporation councillors came up in the House on Monday, just a day before the leaders of the three civic bodies met the Lieutenant-Governor over lack of funds impacting the functioning of the corporations.
The EDMC’s Environment Management Services Committee had asked for permission for “study tours to see sanitation facilities in different cities outside Delhi”.
Though the proposal does not mention the exact location and timing of the tours, sources said the visits could be to a foreign city. However, Opposition Leader Varyam Kaur said the destination would be Bangalore.
The study tour was proposed by two members of the committee – Asma Begum (Independent) and Sunil Kumar Jha (BJP). The committee has 14 members, of which eight are BJP councillors, three are from the Congress, two are Independent and one is from the Samajwadi Party.
The BJP-led House postponed the proposal, leaving the possibility of it being passed at a later date. “We have cancelled it for now. We do not want to waste any of the corporation’s money. We don’t have funds for it,” said Sanjay Surjan, the Chairman of the Standing Committee.
The House will not consider it in its next meeting as well, added Mr. Surjan. According to Ms. Kaur, the study tour would be helpful to the councillors to learn about “new dustbins”, etc.
Replying to Mr. Surjan’s statement that the EDMC cannot afford such study tours, Ms. Kaur said: “They have funds for corruption, for buying expensive things, but no funds for welfare”.
