Delhi Government today denied any financial aid to the cash-strapped civic agencies and asked them to seek the Centre's help.
A delegation of three mayors of the BJP-led municipal corporations in the national capital met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat seeking funds as the civic agencies are facing acute financial crunch.
"The North Corporation is under a loan of Rs 1,400 crore so we demanded Rs 302 which is part of our global share for the year 2014-15 from the Delhi Government. They denied it and claimed that they have adjusted the money in our loan," North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Yogender Chandolia said.
The delegation claimed that the financial situation of three civic agencies has deteriorated after the trifurcation.
"We requested Delhi Government to give Rs 302 crore so that we can pay salaries and meet other expenses. At present, 70 per cent of educational expenses are paid by Delhi Government, but to pay pension to retired teaching staff we requested them to increase this share to 90 per cent," Chandolia said.
The Mayors claimed that efforts are being made to generate money but to make the civic agencies run they need financial assistance.
According to a senior government official, the Chief Minister expressed his willingness to help but the Delhi government too is reeling under financial crisis, so it is unable to help them.
Kejriwal told the mayors to do municipal reforms to generate more money to overcome the financial crisis. "The Delhi Government's financial situation is not good as there was a deficit of Rs 4,000 crore in revenue target during the last one year, the period when the city was being run by BJP led Union Government," Kejriwal in a press statement said.
The CM suggested the delegation to approach the BJP government at the Centre for funds. "If the central government grants the funds to us it will be transferred to municipal bodies within hours," Kejriwal said.
According the senior government official, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will soon meet Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to seek funds. The municipal corporations too are planning to seek appointment of Jaitley.
