North corp demands Delhi govt to release over Rs 500 cr funds

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has said that implementation of various projects and schemes in the areas under its jurisdiction has been severely affected due to non-payment of over Rs 500 crore in grant-in-aid by Delhi Government.
The BJP-ruled municipal body said fund crunch has affected functioning of education department, developmental projects in resettlement colonies, sanitation works and malaria and dengue control programmes among others.
In a letter written by Standing Committee Chairman Ram Kishan Singhal, the corporation has listed in detail all the funds that the corporation should have received in April and demanded its immediate release.
Peeved by the delay, NDMC mayor Azad Singh on Friday met chief secretary D M Spolia for an "explanation" on the matter and demanded immediate release of the funds.

"We have been assured that the funds will be released by next week. Development works and sanitation work have been severely affected due to this delay," Singh told PTI.
According to the letter submitted to the chief secretary, the corporation has demanded payment of the first instalment amounting to Rs 515.84 crore.
The civic agency has also sought advance payment of Rs 1,031 crore as second instalment of grant-in-aid. "We have been assured that the second instalment will be released on time," added mayor Singh.
"In fact, we have made it clear to the Delhi government that if the funds are not released, we will be forced to start an agitation from Tuesday," Singhal said.