The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said that the RTIs have revealed that `6,760 crores went missing from Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s parking and conversion fee escrow account under BJP’s watch and demanding a CBI probe in the matter. In a tweet, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia demanded a CBI in the matter.
Earlier, addressing a press conference, the AAP MCD In-charge, Durgesh Pathak alleged that 6,800 crores were collected in the parking and conversion fee escrow account over the few years; no sign of where the money went.
“Since 2012, BJP ruled MCD has spent only `40 crores on parking, which implies there should be 6,760 crores in the escrow account, but there’s only 1.5 crores left in it. AAP demands an investigation into this scam; the culprits must be given the strictest possible punishment immediately,” said Pathak,the legislator from Rajinder Nagar.
“There’s a concept of escrow accounts that is followed in the government revenue collection system. Such accounts are maintained to deposit tax collected from a particular source of revenue and are dedicated to be spent only on that particular source,” said Pathak adding that all the money paid by the public for parking and conversion goes into the escrow account.
“The MCD is meant to build parkings in Delhi with the money in the escrow account but the reality is in stark contrast. If we calculate only the figures of the last ten years, then since 2012, MCD should have collected `6,800 crore in this account,” said Pathak .
“What is shocking is that of this amount, the MCD has only spent `40 crore on parkings. This implies that there should be at least `6,760 crores left in the escrow. However, RTIs have revealed that the escrow account in question has only `1.5 crores left in it. It is clear as day that money has been stolen. Once again, the BJP’s misgovernance in the MCD has led to corruption amounting to `6,760 crores,” said Pathak.
“The AAP demands an investigation into this scam. It must be ascertained how `6,760 crores have vanished out of the MCD’s treasury and looking at the behaviour of BJP leaders for the past few years, I can claim with confidence that this money has reached their personal coffers,” said Pathak. “It is unfathomable that they’ve made a joke out of an escrow account like this and left a meagre sum of `1.5 crores in it. We demand the LG to get the matter investigated immediately,” Pathak added.