Development fund to stay,says Mayor

Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain today said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was not looking at any curtailment of the Councillors’ Local Area Development Fund despite the Delhi government’s recommendation to do so.

Each of the 272 MCD councillor can spend up to Rs 2 crore under the Local Area Development Fund. The government wanted to reduce this to Rs. 50 lakh per ward. The Mayor pointed out that the Development Fund ensured that all areas under the MCD enjoy same weightage irrespective of their status.

“The move of the government amounts to interfering in the financial autonomy of the civic body. No permission from the government is required for increasing the allocation of funds and it is the MCD’s discretion how to spend it,” he said.