Help civic bodies in Delhi, disburse all dues to them: BJP leader Ramvir Bidhuri to Kejriwal

Amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Bidhuri urged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday to immediately disburse all dues to the BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the national capital.

A Delhi government functionary, however, claimed all dues to the corporations have been paid and regretted that the BJP was indulging in politics at a time when the focus needs to be on strengthening the fight against the epidemic.

In a letter to Kejriwal, Bidhuri said it is essential that the Delhi government helps the civic bodies so that thousands of coronavirus warriors can "come out of the grave financial crisis due to non-payment of salaries".

As the first step, the Delhi government should immediately release the grant-in-aid and transfer certain taxes collected for the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal to the three municipal corporations, he said.

"The financial condition of North Delhi Municipal Corporation is most serious. Due to acute shortage of funds, it has not been able to pay salaries to staff," the leader of opposition said.

"Even the sanitation workers have not received salaries for the month of March. They are carrying out their duties despite the great risk to their lives amid the epidemic. Other employees of groups A, B, C, and D have also not received their salaries," he said.

Bidhuri also claimed that daily wage employees, who are at the lowest rung of the hierarchy, have not been paid for the last two months.

"There are 57,000 employees and 24,000 pensioners in North Delhi Municipal Corporation. Starved of salaries and pensions, they are in deep financial crisis. They are finding it difficult to even run their kitchen."