Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Sunday, urging him to instruct the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to clear its dues to the civic agencies. The DDA reportedly owes Rs.1,600 crore as property tax to the corporations.
In his letter, Mr. Kejriwal said that sanitation workers in the city had been on strike as their salaries and arrears had not been paid. This was because the corporations had failed to generate revenue. According to Mr. Kejriwal, with the DDA clearing its dues the civic agencies will be able to tide over the financial crisis.
The CM wrote: “Due to the financial crunch, the municipal corporations are unable to meet their core functions relating to handling and removal of garbage…Often the municipal corporations delay paying monthly salaries to safai karamcharis (sanitation workers), which leads to threats of strikes by them.”
Demanding regular payment of salaries, arrears, regularization of posts, cashless health card, the sanitation workers have been on strike since October 23. They had protested over the same issues earlier in June this year. Through his letter, Mr. Kejriwal pointed out that a major source of revenue generation for the corporations was property tax collections. He said that agencies such as the DDA owe up to Rs. 1,600 crore to the corporations. He added that Mr. Jung, who heads the DDA, can help stabilize the civic agencies.
According to Mr. Kejriwal, the DDA owes Rs. 765 crore to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Rs. 590 crore to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and Rs. 200 crore to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had announced the release of funds amounting to Rs. 3,396 crore for all three corporations.
