South Delhi Mayor Subhash Arya today accused Delhi government of trying to "destroy" the functioning of corporations by not releasing the grants due to them and said it was hampering the payment of salaries and implementation of projects.
"The state government is not implementing the Delhi Finance Commission's recommendations and halting the growth of the corporation by stopping funds," Arya alleged, adding that, as per the rules, corporations have their own share in the funds released by the Centre.
"The government of Delhi is trying to destroy functioning of corporations by not releasing the grants... Salaries, pensions, developmental projects, all are suffering due to shortage of funds," he said.
The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated into North, South and East corporations in 2012, and three civic bodies, especially NDMC and EDMC, have been debt-ridden since then.
All the three civic bodies are at present led by BJP.
Arya claimed said that till 2007-08, Delhi government was giving 5.5 per cent to the MCD under the 'Global Share of Taxes'.
"It was reduced to 4 per cent, and 1.5 per cent is kept under the 'Municipal Reform Fund'. In 2012-13, under MRF, Rs 60 crore was released against the demand for Rs 135 crore and since 2013-14, no MRF has been released to the municipal corporations," he alleged.
"So, under the MRF, Rs 391 crore is pending. Delhi government must release Rs 560 crore till this year under this head," he added.
After implementation of the 'Unit Area Method' in 2004 for assessment of property tax, the then Congress-led Sheila Dikshit government had assured that it would compensate for the losses accrued due to its implementation, but it is still pending since 2005-06, he claimed.
"But till now, no fund has been issued to us leading to a due of more than Rs 1,500 crore. We demand that the state government immediately release our funds," he said.
The mayor said that the corporations are carrying out works in authorised colonies, unauthorised colonies and rural village areas, but "no fund is released" to us under these schemes as grants.
He said that under plan head schemes, "Rs 950 crore is pending, under which, for education alone, Rs 554 crore is due".
He added that, for this financial year, the first instalment has not been released fully. "We demand full instalments till June, 2015," he said.
He urged the government to release all grants under the various heads with immediate effect.
The AAP government and the three civic bodies have been at loggerheads over the release of grants. While NDMC has decided to move court, SDMC has also decided to explore legal options to seek the release of the "funds due".
