Chandigarh MC in dire straits, left with only Rs 32 crore
Sandeep Rana
Chandigarh, July 5
Facing the worst financial crisis, the city Municipal Corporation is left with only Rs 32 crore in its coffers and is struggling to pay agencies, which provide workers to the civic body. Outsourced workers have not been paid salaries for June.
Pinning hopes on water bills, property tax
“We have cleared salaries of regular employees. Now, we are left with only Rs 30-32 crore. We are looking forward to income from water bills and property tax to pay salaries of all contract and outsourced workers. Besides, we are not in a condition to clear bills of all outsourced agencies and contractors,” said an MC official.
Second instalment of grant not released
The corporation, which is heavily dependent on the UT Administration’s grant-in-aid to run its house, is facing the fund crunch as the second-quarter instalment of grant, which it normally gets in June, could not be released by the Centre. The Union Budget is yet to be approved by Parliament.
Contractors, who were engaged in various routine works, including recarpeting of roads, laying of paver blocks and service lanes, and renovation of community centres, have halted operations as their bills worth over Rs 10 crore have not been cleared by the civic body. No new work tender, other than the projects for which the Centre has released dedicated funds, are being floated.
The corporation, which is heavily dependent on the UT Administration’s grant-in-aid to run its house, is facing the fund crunch as the second-quarter instalment of grant, which it normally gets in June, could not be released by the Centre. The Union Budget is yet to be approved by Parliament.
The MC was given Rs 147 crore by the administration for the first quarter as interim budget. Against its demand for Rs 1,651.75 crore in grant-in-aid (GIA) in the budget estimates, the MC was allocated only Rs 560 crore under the Union Budget. The UT Administration has to release these funds to the MC on a quarterly basis.
The interim fund released to it was used in paying salaries and meeting committed liabilities, besides floating some unavoidable tenders like those related to monsoon preparedness. The MC’s per month expenditure is Rs 58 crore.
“We have cleared salaries of regular employees. Now, we are left with only Rs 30-32 crore. We are looking forward to income from water bills and property tax to pay salaries of all contract and outsourced workers. Besides, we are not in a condition to clear bills of all outsourced agencies and contractors,” said an MC official.
Criticising the AAP-Congress alliance, BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi said, “They do not know how to run the MC. They exhausted the entire funds within six months. It is all due to a financial mismanagement. In my ward, contractors have stopped the renovation of the back service lanes and community centre.”
Mayor Kuldeep Kumar is from AAP, which fought the mayoral elections in alliance with the Congress.
Promising that all will be fine, the Mayor said, “We are going to get funds by July-end and the situation will become normal. We will pay salaries of all staff. The BJP has its government at the Centre and it runs the UT Administration too. It should release funds.”
