2 min readNew DelhiMar 5, 2015 03:23 AM IST
First published on: Mar 5, 2015 at 03:23 AM IST
Reeling under an acute shortage of funds, the Standing Committee of the North Municipal Corporation on Wednesday sought a bail-out from its South counterpart in the form of a loan of Rs 100 crore.
The North Corporation is currently struggling to pay salaries to at least 45 per cent of its employees, including teachers of several corporation schools. The chairman of the Standing Committee Mohan Bhardwaj said the South corporation, with its fund surplus, was in a good position to help out the North corporation deal with its dues.
“The South corporation has a budget surplus of over Rs 600 crore. It can loan us some amount till such time as we are able to work out our finances,” Bhardwaj said.
Since all three corporations are led by the BJP, the North corporation is routing this request through Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay.
The North corporation is also seeking a bill of over Rs 30 crore from the South corporation for services provided at the headquarters, which is shared by the two civic bodies since 2012 (after trifurcation of the unified MCD).
Currently, the North and South Corporations function out of the Civic Centre and the East Corporation from Udyog Sadan in Patparganj.
According to North Corporation officials, the civic body has been footing the bill for the maintenance and upkeep of Civic Centre until now.
The bill includes payment for services such as security of the Civic Centre, electricity and water bills and housekeeping.
South Delhi mayor Khushi Ram said a proposal to such an effect has not reached him until now. He said, “When such a proposal is received, we will consider it. We do not have any problem with our finances at the moment.”
Since January, the North corporation has been unable to provide salaries to approximately 55 per cent of its employees. The corporation foots a monthly salary bill of Rs 170 crore, which amounts to Rs 2,040 crore annually. But the revenue of the corporation amounts to only
Rs 1,400 crore. The corporation has also been facing fund shortage due to a lack of grants from the Delhi government.
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