Arvind Kejriwal imposes strict conditions for Rs 551 crore loan

The AAP government has provided loan to North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations on the condition that they should not make any fresh recruitment and ensure that temporary sanitation workers and beldars were discontinued in a phased manner within a year.

The new stringent conditions for release of Rs 551-crore loan to the civic agencies to provide salaries up to January 31 is bound to have major political implications as the three corporations are scheduled to go to polls in all the 272 wards in 2017.

Among the fresh conditions posed by the AAP government to the two cash-strapped municipal bodies is that they should not go for any fresh recruitment, particularly of Group-IV sanitation workers, and ensure that workers and beldars working on a temporary basis were discontinued in a phased manner within a year.

Political pundits in the city are of the view that the fresh conditions imposed on the civic bodies are likely to have major implications as the AAP too is planning to contest the municipal polls. A political strategist said that the AAP had earlier been pitching for permanent jobs for the contractual workers in different sectors before the Assembly elections in 2015. “Now, the same party, which is set to contest the municipal polls for the first time in Delhi, has directed the BJP-led civic agencies to discontinue the services of the temporary workers in a phased manner within a year.”

At a recent high-level meeting with deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the AAP government is said to have assured that a loan of Rs 314 crore would be given to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and Rs 237 crore to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation provided they follow the fresh conditions.

A document on the fresh conditions imposed by the AAP government on the civic bodies said: “There will be no fresh recruitments, particularly Group-IV employees viz. safai karamcharis, beldars, and fresh regularisation. The safai karamcharis and beldars engaged on a temporary basis will be discontinued in a phased manner within a year.”

Among other conditions imposed on the civic bodies are that they would not only re-assess all their schemes, but also would not increase the scope of any scheme and its liability and ensure that no new scheme is launched without approval of the AAP government. The civic agencies were told to increase their revenue through improved property tax coverage and bring left-out properties under the property tax net. The civic agencies have also been directed to increase their revenue from advertisements, parking lots and other remunerative projects.

Other conditions imposed on the civic bodies is that they should not provide any concession or rebate in taxes, fees or charges levied by them. They have been directed to implement the Municipal Valuation Committee report in the next two months and also apprise the same to the city government.

The AAP government decided to provide a loan to the civic bodies only after lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung wrote to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia that the on-going crisis could lead to law and order situation in the city. The lieutenant-governor had said that the situation demanded an immediate initiative.

He had requested the AAP government to consider a loan to the municipal bodies on an emergency basis. The L-G had also said that the loan could include conditionalities that would ensure monitoring the working of the corporations to remove doubts on the proper utilisation of the loan.