Delhi Cong demands payment of wages to MCD employees

Delhi Congress today staged a protest at the Civic Centre here against the non-payment of wages to MCD employees and sanitary workers.

Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken, who led the party workers, accused the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi and the Narendra Modi regime at the Centre of not being concerned about the problems being faced by the people of the city.

"Both governments were indulging in diversionary tactics to distract public attention from lack of development and pressing problems such as power and water shortages," he said.

Claiming that sanitation staff in MCD had not been paid salaries for past three months, he alleged that the Municipal Corporations of Delhi were mired in graft at "all levels."

Blaming the Modi government for "severe cash crunch" in the MCD, Maken said, "Finance Minister Arun Jaitly reduced the allocation for MCD by Rs 650 crore whereas the then Congress government had allocated Rs 981 crore in 2008-2009 and Rs 1,409 crore in 2009-2010 to MCDs without seeking any credit."

Listing problems faced by people of Delhi, Maken held the Kejriwal government responsible for their present plight.

"In many areas, power cuts ranged from 4 to 5 hours and in other areas there were total blackouts. Water shortage has also become acute. Old age and widow pensions have not been disbursed for the past many months," he alleged.

Charging that Modi and Kejriwal governments had little time to spare for people's welfare other than fighting among themselves to protect their "political turf," he said Kejriwal should give up the "politics of confrontation" and address the pressing problems being faced by the people of Delhi to discharge his duty as the CM.