NDMC slashes power tariff, supplies free water

Days after the Delhi government slashed power tariff by 50 per cent and promised free water up to 20 kilolitres, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) today adopted the same scheme in areas under its jurisdiction.
The proposal which could not be taken up in the last council meeting was approved in today's meeting presided by Lok Sabha MP Ajay Maken.
According to the proposal, households in the NDMC areas with a metered water connection will get 20 kilolitres of water a month free of charge and 50 per cent subsidy on power consumption of up to 400 units.
There are around 25,000 water connections in the area, of which 22,000 connections are metered.

"The scheme will be implemented from the next billing cycle", NDMC chairperson Jalaj Srivastava said.
However, the burden of rationalising the water and electricity tariff will not be on the civic agency but will be subsidised by the Delhi government, NDMC officials said.

The agency today also approved the long pending regularisation of contractual workers and brought out a new policy under which the workers will have to go through a scrutiny process.
The workers under Temporary Muster Roll (TMR) will be made regular after 500 days of employment whereas contractual workers will be made regular after 700 days of employment.

Under the new policy, the workers will have to go through a process which will involve a qualification criteria, Srivastava said, adding, the process will entail inviting applications through newspapers, employment exchanges, and will be done in a transparent manner.
The policy will cover both the new recruitments and the contractual workers who are to be made permanent and will restrict any backdoor entry, NDMC officials said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, MLA from New Delhi constituency, and Surinder Singh representing Delhi Cantonment constituency were not present for the meeting as their membership has not yet been notified by Union Home Ministry.

According to the NDMC Act, the MLAs from New Delhi and Delhi Cantonment Assembly constituencies automatically become members of the council.
"We are hoping to get the notification in the next few days", Srivastava said.
The approval of a health scheme known as the 'Liberalised Medical Health Scheme' was put on hold as Maken asked the council to wait for the Chief Minister to join NDMC.
The council was also informed about the auction of around 70 shops to be held in February. "The shops are lying vacant since a long time, so we have decided to auction them through an open and transparent process", Srivastava said.

Lodhi Garden Restaurant will also be auctioned next month as the term of the current owners ended in July last year, he said.