Austerity is in full bloom in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which has decided to stop spending lakhs of rupees every year on floral arrangements for the desks of its political leaders and officers.
As a cost-cutting measure, the cash-strapped civic body will no longer purchase fresh flowers for about 70 cabins at its headquarters as well as its zonal offices.
Standing Committee chairperson Mohan Bhardwaj said on Wednesday: “We spend Rs. 8,000 whenever we buy flowers for our offices. This turns out to be Rs. 24 lakh per year, as flowers last two to three days.”
Cash crunch
The North Corporation has been struggling to pay staff for six months now; and development work has nearly come to a halt for lack of funds. In that background, Mr. Bhardwaj ordered the Horticulture Department to stop buying flowers from Thursday.
The arrangements ranged in price and complexity, but most included a mix of gerberas, roses, lilies and gladioli. The vases were replenished with fresh stems every two of three days. Officials said the practice dated back several decades, when the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi worked out of Town Hall. It continued when the North and South civic bodies shifted to the Civic Centre in 2010.
“We haven’t been able to pay our workers; this amount can be used for that instead of flowers,” said Mr. Bhardwaj said at a meeting of the Standing Committee.
Move welcomed
The Opposition Congress welcomed the move.
Leader of Opposition Mukesh Goel said: “Why don’t we also put a stop to the excessive use of cars by leaders and officers. Some people have two official vehicles.”
Meanwhile, all heads of department in the civic body have been asked to come up with similar measures to cut-back on spending.
