Half of the funds ever released for sanitation projects under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Mission remained unused by Delhi’s civic bodies and government agencies as of the end of 2017, a Delhi government report showed.
At a time the Delhi government is in the process of finalising its budget for 2018-2019, a report about the amount released and utilised for Swachh Bharat Mission compiled by the Urban Development Department shows that a total of ₹149.86 crore was released as on December 31, 2017. Of that, the civic bodies and the government agencies were able to spend ₹74.87 crore, with ₹74.99 crore remaining unused as on December 31, 2017.
Of the amount used, the majority went to projects of solid waste management (₹52.68 crore), followed by construction of community toilets (₹9.99 crore) and aiding construction of individual household toilets (₹7.80 crore). In addition, ₹4.24 crore was used for information, education and communication costs and ₹14.89 lakh on capacity building.
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Share of funding
An official of the Urban Development Department said that the funds were disbursed by the Centre in financial years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 and the Delhi government added its share and released the total amount to the civic bodies and agencies.
Since the funds have not been utilised fully, additional funds for Swachh Bharat Mission projects were not released in subsequent years, said the official. According to the Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines, the civic bodies are expected to put in their share of funding before they are given the money from the Centre and the State.
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While the New Delhi Municipal Council and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation have been able to use 100% and 97% of the funds released to them, the other municipalities and departments lag behind.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has spent 22%, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation 53% and the Delhi Cantonment Board 47% of the funds released. The Delhi government’s Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has spent 39% of the funds released.
Sources said the DUSIB’s utilisation was higher, but it was yet to complete the accounting process.
According to Urban Development Department sources, at a meeting recently, Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash asked the North Corporation and the EDMC to use up to 75% of funds by the end of this financial year or return some of the funds.
Cash crunch
Explaining the reason behind the unused funds, a senior official of the North Corporation said the civic body was not being able to make its contribution towards projects because of cash crunch. “In many cases the ratio of the Centre and the civic body’s contribution is either 70:30 or 80:20. The sad part is that the North Corporation is facing a major shortage of funds and does not even have the resources to make 20% of the contribution,” the official said. The official said that despite initiating several revenue generation projects, the income has been low.
In the EDMC, which is also reeling under a financial crisis, a major portion of the allocated funds have been utilised in public awareness programmes and building of public toilets.
“We have decided to go to the basics. Toilets are being built at every neighbourhood and market. The resident welfare associations are also being roped in to get maximum public participation to improve conditions,” said EDMC commissioner Dr. Ranbir Singh.
For the SDMC, things have been rosy. They have been in a better financial position compared to their counterparts and have been initiating projects to implement segregation of waste at source.
“We have had several public awareness programmes and have brought youth icon Gautam Gambhir to spread our message of cleanliness. The idea is to get students, the young generation, on board with our projects so that in the longer run we benefit,” said an SDMC official.