AAP government panel yet to submit report on MCDs

The BJP-led municipal corporations are struggling to pay salaries to their employees on time, but a high-level committee appointed by the AAP government on January 20 to conduct fact-finding measures on the financial health of these civic bodies within a week has yet to submit its report. The main reason why the committee has been unable to submit its report is being attributed in the government circles to the non-cooperation of the civic agencies in conducting the fact-finding measures.

The committee, headed by the divisional commissioner, was set up on the orders of deputy CM Manish Sisodia following largescale protests by the civic employees for not getting their salaries and pensions on time.

In his order, the deputy CM said: “The Governm-ent of NCT of Delhi is ple-ased to appoint a committee under the chairmanship of A. Anbarasu, IAS, secretary (revenue-cum-divisional commissioner) to inspect and scrutinise the records of the North Delhi Municipal Corporat-ion, East Delhi Municipal Corporation and South Delhi Municipal Corporat-ion and to report to this government whether the municipal corporations were duly performing the obligatory functions mandated under Section 42 of the DMC Act, 1957. Sandeep Kumar Mishra, additional secretary (UD), will be the member secretary of the said committee. The divisional commissioner can co-opt any or all district magistrates, additional district magistrates and sub-district magistrates to conduct fact-finding measures.”

The order made it clear that the committee and the officers associated with it had been authorised to ex-ercise powers under Sec-tion 485 and 486 of the DMC Act, 1957 and it will have to submit its fact-fi-nding report to the government within a week. The main objective of the committee was to review the financial position of the municipal corporations and to take stock of the grants under plan and non-plan heads to be rele-ased by the government.

A highly-placed source said that though the committee had already held several meetings, no mun-icipal commissioner ever participated in any of its meetings. “The corporati-ons did not provide all the requisite information sou-ght out by the committee.”

The government was forced to set up the committee after the municipal corporations had failed to pay salaries to their employees, including doctors, nurses, teachers and sanitation workers for several months. The doctors and teachers associations of the North and East Delhi Corporations had even petitioned the CAT that these civic bodies be handed over to the city government.