Delhi Government Announces Rs 1,051 Crore Grant For Civic Bodies To Pay Salaries

The Delhi government announced on Saturday a grant of Rs 1,051 crore for the three municipal corporations to pay salaries of healthcare workers and other employees amid the second coronavirus wave.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in a virtual briefing, said despite constrained circumstances due to the lockdown, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took this decision as those people who are helping fight the pandemic should get their salaries.

Doctors and other employees of the civic bodies are not getting their salaries due to "mismanagement and corruption" in the municipal corporations, the Aam Aadmi Party leader alleged.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation, East Delhi Municipal Corporation and North Delhi Municipal Corporation are all BJP-led civic bodies.

"The Delhi government has released Rs 1,051 crore to the three municipal corporations in total so that they can pay salaries of their employees, amid this pandemic.

"The east corporation is to get Rs 367 crore, north corporation about Rs 432 crore and south corporation Rs 251 crore," he said.

The minister asserted that civic authorities must ensure this fund was used for paying salaries of employees only and not "diverted for other usage".

Meanwhile, North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash claimed that the grant by the Delhi government was released after the three corporations "exerted pressure" on it.

The three civic bodies have been writing multiple letters to the chief minister and the Lt governor seeking release of funds, he said.

Delhi had recorded 8,506 coronavirus cases on Friday, the daily count dipping to below the 10,000-mark again after a month, with medical experts attributing the lockdown as the main factor behind the dip amid the second wave.

Mr Kejriwal said that the number of cases recorded in the last 24 hours has further dipped to about 6,500 with a positivity rate of 11 per cent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)