Delhi BJP stages protest, says AAP govt should release funds of municipal corporations

Delhi BJP leaders, including councillors and functionaries of the three party-led municipal corporations here, took out a protest march on Monday, demanding that the AAP government release funds to the civic bodies. AAP leaders also staged a demonstration at the Civic Centre, demanding that the BJP-led civic bodies pay salaries of the municipal corporation employees.

Delhi BJP leaders, including councillors and functionaries of the three party-led municipal corporations here, took out a protest march on Monday, demanding that the AAP government release funds to the civic bodies. Some municipal corporation employees staging a protest over pending salaries at the Civic Centre raised slogans as Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta tried to address them. The Civic Centre is the headquarter of the North and the South Delhi Municipal Corporations.

Gupta accused the Kejriwal government of "political malice" and "crippling" the municipal corporations by withholding their funds. BJP leaders, including Gupta, who were part of the protest march from the Civic Centre to the Delhi Secretariat were stopped by police at a barricade. Some of the protesters were detained but later released from the Rajender Nagar police station, a Delhi BJP statement claimed.

Gupta said it was sad that municipal corporation employees like sanitation workers, teachers and health workers who discharged frontline duties amid the COVID-19 pandemic were forced to stage a protest over their pending salaries. "In 2020-21, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation is to get a total of Rs 1,677 crore, but till September 7 only Rs 157 crore has been received by it. Even after almost half a year, the Delhi government has given less than 10 per cent of funds to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation," he claimed.

He further claimed that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation have received just around 26 per cent and 40 per cent of their pending dues for the year from Delhi government. The corporations have no option but to move the Delhi High Court to demand prompt payment of outstanding funds as per the recommendations of the Third and Fourth Finance Commission, Gupta said.

Senior AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said, "I want to say to the BJP, release the salaries of the MCD workers within the next one week. If you cannot run the MCD, then please resign and hand it over to AAP." BJP should stop "misleading" people, and release the salaries of MCD workers immediately or resign. AAP will run it better in the same budget, he said. AAP leaders also staged a demonstration at the Civic Centre, demanding that the BJP-led civic bodies pay salaries of the municipal corporation employees.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)