Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Wednesday invited suggestions from the people of Delhi to improve the poor financial health of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). He tweeted that the public should “honestly” pay its dues to the civic body to maintain its revenue flow.
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Mr. Saxena shared a graphic along with his tweet highlighting that from the financial year 2019-20 to 2021-22, the MCD’s total income stood at ₹31,861.85 crore, while its total expenditure stood at ₹34,618.17 crore. He said the civic body’s total cash deficit stood at ₹2,756.32 crore and its salary, pension dues and other financial liabilities stood at ₹9,261.95 crore.
Mr. Saxena said though the civic body provides services to 94% of the Capital’s areas, financial mismanagement in the past and non-payment of property tax by 75% of the residents have resulted in the civic body’s financial status “remaining in the red”.
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Close to 98% of the city’s population resides in areas under the jurisdiction of the MCD. “We [MCD] have to pull up our socks and increase our internal revenue from our sources. Higher collection of property tax will improve the situation but we will have to explore all revenue sources,” said a senior MCD official.
Prior to the merger of the three erstwhile municipal corporations, recurring delays in the payment of salaries to employees under the North and East corporations led to frequent strikes and disruption of services. The merger, according to civic officials, was perceived as a solution to the MCD’s growing financial distress as a bailout package was being expected from the Centre. The situation, however, has only grown worse while ambiguity remains on how the financial liabilities will be cleared, said the officials, adding that the latest emphasis on increasing internal revenue has only dashed their hopes of a bailout package in the future.
Over the past week, Mr. Saxena has invited suggestions and sought public participation in solving issues that affect the public – including the clearing of landfill sites, improving air quality, daily sewage discharge in Yamuna and shortage of water in the city.