NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday shot a letter to the mayors of the three BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the city asking them for payment of salaries to teachers. Sisodia, in his letter, claimed that the Delhi government has already paid Rs 960 crore to civic bodies this year as grant for education which was supposed to be paid by December 2020.
Sisodia wrote that the mayors were “peddling lies” and asked them to rise above “petty politics” and focus on real issues of “corruption and financial mismanagement”. “Despite this release of funds by the Delhi government, the BJP-ruled MCDs are not paying the salary of the teachers,” Sisodia said. He asked the mayors to immediately release the salaries.
In response to the letter, North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash said it showed Sisodia’s “frustration”. “Delhi government constituted Delhi Finance Commission and then accepted its recommendations. Now they owe Rs 13,500 crore to MCDs, out of which Rs 6,550 crore is for North MCD, as per 3rd, 4th and 5th DFC recommendations,” he claimed. Sisodia must explain when the government is releasing the due amount of Rs 13,500 crore, he added.
“He must also explain have they (AAP) ever given loan to local bodies since their party came to power. Moreover, during trifurcation we were promised a bail-out package by the then CM Sheila Dikshit which has not been paid,” he said.
South MCD Mayor Anamika Mithilesh Singh said that the all facts and figures of the Deputy CM’s letter are baseless and wrong. She said that on one hand the government is not paying the dues of Rs 13,500 crores of the three corporations and on the other hand, by presenting fabricated facts, they are doing politics of false allegations.