The current arrears of pending salary and pension is ₹672 crore; Municipal officials say any party that takes over the reins of the corporation after the elections will face the daunting task of generating revenue and clearing dues.
The current arrears of pending salary and pension is ₹672 crore; Municipal officials say any party that takes over the reins of the corporation after the elections will face the daunting task of generating revenue and clearing dues.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is set to witness its first elections on December 4, is facing a backlog in payment of salaries and pensions to its employees, following its amalgamation five months ago.
The dues currently stand at ₹672 crore, down from the September backlog of ₹1,126 crore. Municipal officials said the coming months would be difficult – especially for the political party that will come to power after the MCD elections – as the corporation is running low on finances.
There is already a backlog from the merger of the three erstwhile municipal corporations – North, South and East, due to pending payment of salaries and pensions to various categories of employees under the erstwhile North and East Delhi Corporations. At present, the employees of the two erstwhile corporations have one to four months’ salary and pension pending.
₹774 cr needed per month
“Besides the arrears, we need ₹774 crore more to pay each month’s salary, and this will have to continue or the backlog will increase. After making the latest payments, our current finances are as low as ₹150 crores. It is likely that we will have to depend on our internal revenue to pay next month’s salary as external revenue sources have dried up and we can only wait for the next installment of external revenue which is due after January, A civic official said that since the merger of the three erstwhile municipal corporations, the internal revenue of the MCD has not increased significantly.
The official said around 90% of the MCD’s finances go towards salaries and pensions, leaving little room for new development projects.
“The backlog amount fluctuates every month. If we miss one payment then the backlog will increase again, and this may force the employees to go on strike, there were repeated strikes over pending salaries when the councilors were in-charge,” said the MCD official. .
revenue generation
Responding to the comments, MCD’s Director of Press and Information Amit Kumar said the civic body is working to generate “adequate” internal revenue to ensure wage payments and added that the corporation’s latest wealth tax scheme – SAMRIDDHI – is getting a good response.
“It is expected that this scheme will help in achieving the targeted property tax collection during the current financial year. Apart from this, all other revenue earning departments are performing better in revenue collection as compared to previous years. Efforts are also being made to better monetize the corporation’s land and buildings. Continuous monitoring is being done to reduce the avoidable expenditure. The money saved will be added to the funds required for wage payment,” Mr. Kumar said.