The financial crunch of the civic bodies in Delhi is far from getting over with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) alone being deprived of nearly Rs2,100 crore. The major defaulters are the Delhi Government and housing agency Delhi Development Authority (DDA). North Delhi Mayor Yogendra Chandolia on Tuesday met Delhi’s lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung and sought his intervention for quick payment of the dues.
While the DDA owes Rs 589 crore to the civic body towards property tax; the Delhi Government is yet to pay around Rs1,500 crore under various heads. It may be noted that lieutenant-Governor of Delhi is the head of the DDA and the non-payment of property tax was also taken up with former lG Tejendra Khanna.
Interestingly, the civic body which was to get Rs900 crore as compensation by the Government for decline in revenue from property tax has also not been released. This, according to officials, has compounded problems for the cash-strapped corporation particularly after the trifurcation of unified MCD. “The matter pertaining to property tax is pending before the Delhi High Court. The DDA has argued that it should be exempted from paying property tax. The DDA is the owner of the built-up properties and is generating revenue from their commercial exploitation. Being the Chairman of DDA, you (lG) should issue appropriate
direction for releasing the dues,” Chandolia said in his letter to the lieutenant Governor. He said the Corporation had in March 2013 sealed bank accounts of DDA to recover Rs57 core.
According to NMC officials, the civic body has not been given the grant of Rs270.68 crore under non-planned head and Rs196.91 crore under the planned head for the financial year 2014-15. This money should have been released by March 31. Further, the civic body has also been deprived of Rs67.15 crore as third installment of the global share and Rs60 crore towards transfer duty from the Delhi Government. “Having trifurcated the unified MCD, it is the responsibility of Delhi Government to provide financial assistance to the three bodies for executing the development projects. Due to shortage of funds, we are unable to distribute pension or grants to social organisations. Also, a number of development works are hampered due to lack of funds,” the Mayor said.