Councillors get local area funds after three-year gap

New Delhi:

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has begun the process of allocating area development funds to councillors, a move that is expected to expedite works such as repair of roads, parks and help improve sanitation.

According to senior municipal officials aware of the matter, the deputy controller of accounts in the engineering department has issued orders regarding budget allocation of ₹25 lakh to each municipal councillor for undertaking works in their wards.

During a special budget meeting held on March 29, the corporation approved ₹188 crore for the local area development funds and the civic body is expected to release this amount in phases over the next year.

The development is significant in the backdrop of a persistent state of flux that the civic body is in ever since municipal elections were held last year. Due to differences between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the civic body is yet to constitute several key panels such as the Standing Committee, which controls the purse strings of the civic body, and zonal ward committees -- panels that are key to finding quick solutions to local problems.

According to the municipal order, the funds can be utilised for hiring of trucks for lifting of debris and transportation of labour, procurement of materials such as manhole covers, bitumen mix for road repair, slabs on drain and minor repair works on slip roads or places of public gathering.

“These funds ( ₹62.5 crore) will also be used for emergency works during monsoon and after the rainy season. All proposed works under this head will be booked with the planning section of the corporation and need concurrence of the finance department,” said a senior MCD official who asked not to be named.

The three municipal corporations were unified in May last year. Before the unification, the South MCD was issuing annual local area development funds up to ₹2 crore, North MCD was allocating ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore, depending on funds availability while the East MCD had been unable to release any funds under this head over the last three years. The unification will ensure that representatives from all areas under the three former civic bodies will get equal funds for development of their constituencies.

Kamaljeet Sehrawat, former South MCD mayor and the current councillor from Dwarka, said the expanse of the civic wards has increased due to delimitation ahead of the civic polls. He added that the funds for the councillors should also have gone up proportionately.

“During the Budget meeting, we had demanded that the local area development fund should be increased from ₹188 crore to ₹500 crore. With ₹188 crore allocation, each councillor will get around ₹75 lakh, which is not enough. AAP councillors may get the development work done with the help of their party MLAs, who are given separate funds by the Delhi government. This will not be the case for BJP councillors,” she added.

A spokesperson of the AAP did not respond to requests for comment.

Delhi MCD elections were held on December 4 last year and the AAP had secured a clear majority by winning 134 out of 250 wards. The constitution of the standing committee, which controls finance of MCD, still remains pending before the Delhi high court which will hear the matter on April 24.