Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had been plagued by “massive corruption” and questioned where the funds released by the government to the civic body were being spent.
The discussion happened with east Delhi Mayor Neema Bhagat when she went to meet Mr. Kejriwal at the Secretariat to ask the government to release the funds it owes to the corporation.
To this, the Chief Minister said the government had released all funds to the municipal corporations, which were supposed to be provided under the Fourth Delhi State Finance Commission. He also questioned as to why the salaries of sanitation workers were not being paid when funds had already been released to the civic body.
‘Huge source of income’
Sources said the EDMC had a huge source of income, but its the finances were in a mess due to corruption.
“I have gone through the accounts of the EDMC and have seen that there is massive corruption within the civic body. Senior officials should look into what is going wrong and make their finances more viable,” the Chief Minister told the Mayor.
The EDMC, however, denied claim of payment by the government.
Ms. Bhagat said the AAP government was yet to release ₹9,845 crore to the civic body.
“He has asked us to go the Lieutenant-Governor. We will try and have a meeting with the CM and the L-G together so that we can demand our due,” she said.
‘De-silting work left’
She also requested the Chief Minister to get the Public Works Department (PWD) to cooperate with the EDMC in de-silting drains in their area. Ms. Bhagat said 25 points under the PWD were still to be de-silted and if action was not taken immediately, these would be flooded during monsoon.
