After North, East MCD sounds alarm, says left with just Rs 1.5 crore in hand

New Delhi: After the North Delhi Municipal Corporation sounded alarm bells over fast-depleting funds, the East MCD has now declared that they have just Rs 1.5 crore left as cash in hand, according to senior officials, and is desperately seeking funds for its basic functioning till the end of the fiscal year.

Now, EDMC leaders have announced a march from Nirman Vihar Metro Station to Delhi Secretariat on Monday to protest the alleged lack of funds from the Delhi government even as the latter insists that all monies owed to the MCDs from their end had been cleared.

And amid this severe cash crunch, the East MCD has been unable to pay salaries to its staffers for the last four months. The civic body is currently running several projects on the PPP model, and is not undertaking any new projects due to the lack of funds.

Employees in A, B and D categories have not received their salaries in the last four months, resulting in tumultuous circumstances. EDMC pays around Rs 170 crore in salaries per month. Since salaries are pending for four, they currently owe Rs 680 crores (approx) in salary dues.

Vikas Anand, EDMC Commissioner explained that when they receive any funds, the first priority will be to pay employees their pending dues. He said "We will pay them as soon as possible," but did not clarify what other resources they can tap if the Delhi government does not release the funds they are seeking.

EDMC's chief accountant Brijesh Singh explained that the Delhi government was supposed to provide EDMC Rs 864 crore as per the Budget FY 2021-22 but EDMC only received Rs 700 crore from them. He alleged they did not follow any procedure and ignored their demands. He said, "The Delhi government did not look into any of our requirements, they did not analyse the previous year's provisions, nor did they appraise the cost of our upcoming projects and then handed us approximately Rs 164 crore less than what was expected."

According to officials, the civic body now needs Rs 950 crore to sustain itself until March 2022, the end of the financial year. Most of their pending dues are related to employees' salaries and pension dues among others.

EDMC is expecting Rs 125 crore in revenue from property tax which will be used to pay salaries for as many employees as possible, officials said. However, there is no definite answer as to how they will continue to manage under these circumstances. The civic body has complained to the High Court regarding the matter, stating that the Delhi government's alleged unfair practice had resulted in the deficiency of money.

The Delhi government has squarely denied owing MCD any money, stating that they have fulfilled their constitutional obligations already.