NEW DELHI: North Delhi Mayor Ravinder Gupta today attributed poor financial condition of the BJP-led NDMC to lack of coordination between the Delhi government and the civic body, and alleged that the AAP administration was "not serious" in their approach in dealing with the pressing issue.
Gupta today met Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, after holding a meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 9, who the Mayor said at that time "had assured of helping the cash-strapped municipal body." "Despite providing details about the financial conditions of the civic body four days ago to the Chief Minister, we did not see any seriousness in their approach in dealing with the issue," Gupta said.
The Mayor was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Neelam Goyal and Standing Committee Chairman Mohan Bhardwaj. The delegation informed Sisodia that it is "because of poor coordination between the two sides that funds under many heads have not been released to the corporation." The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was constituted in 2012 as a result of the trifurcation of the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
All three corporations have claimed that the financial woes of the civic bodies have worsened since the trifurcation. "Starting from its constitution, the NDMC was under the debt of Rs 638 crore. The corporation should get 5.5 per cent of global share of the total tax but the Delhi government has bifurcated this between 4 per cent as global share and 1.5 percent as Municipal Reform Fund and this 1.5 per cent share would be released only when the corporation runs into profit,"
Gupta said. He said that the corporation works for the welfare of the people and in that situation it is "inappropriate to provide loans instead of grants."
The Mayor also demanded the amount of Rs 1,357.49 crore from Delhi government which is "outstanding on it since 31st March". He also demanded Rs 295 crore which is "due on Delhi Jal Board (DJB)" to civic body. The delegation also demanded release of funds as per the recommendations of the Delhi's Fourth Finance Commission. He further said that the NDMC had to receive Rs 620 crore under the education head for the year 2014-15 out of which only Rs 462 crore has been given so far.
"When Unit Area Method (UAM) was introduced in 2004, it had led to the loss of Rs 1,286 crore. The government had promised to compensate the loss, of which Rs 476 crore is the share of NDMC, but it has yet not been done so far," Gupta said.