Engineers in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) have now been tasked with generating revenue for the civic body, which has had to stop all development works due to the ongoing financial crisis.
Construction and maintenance projects have been stalled for months as the BJP-led corporation has been struggling to pay salaries on time.
The civic body is attempting to increase collections of property tax, and conversion and parking charges, which have been falling short of targets for years.
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“We have no funds to carry out development works and there is no cement, etc., in our stores. The engineers are sitting idle. They will now supervise property tax and conversion charge collection by going out in the field,” said North Corporation Standing Committee chairperson Mohan Bhardwaj.
He added that this will be in addition to the routine work they do.
For instance, Junior Engineers (JEs) of the Building Department will continue to go on inspections to check for illegal construction, but will also look for commercial establishments that haven’t paid conversion charges.
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According to officials, close to 150 engineers in engineering and sanitation departments of civic body have been deputed in building, works and other such divisions.
Mr. Bhardwaj said: “We will see if we can give the JEs a monetary incentive for any extra revenue collected.”
However, engineers aren’t thrilled with the decision.
MCD Engineers’ Forum general secretary A. P. Khan said the engineers will oppose the move.
“Our work hasn’t stopped. If we are asked to divert our attention elsewhere, our responsibilities will get neglected and then we will be blamed,” said Mr. Khan.
Representatives of the engineers’ unions have decided to meet officials on Thursday to lodge their protest against the move.
The engineers, meanwhile, are not happy with the move. Representatives of
the engineers’ unions have now decided
to meet officials
on Thursday to lodge their protest