With government funds to people’s representatives -- Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and Municipal Councillors -- remaining suspended in view of austerity measures due to the coronavirus pandemic, residents have complained that several local development works such as repair of roads and parks, construction of drains, community centres and public toilets have taken a hit.
Rajiv Kakria, member of Greater Kailash-I Residents Welfare Association (RWA), said," Already, MLAs in the city had informed us that they have not got their funds since March this year, so no new projects can be taken up. Now, MPLADs have also been suspended for as long as two years. What was the logic of unlocking the city when the elected representatives are not able to even help the taxpayers? These funds are allotted through the taxes we diligently pay."
The Union Cabinet had decided in April to suspend the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund for two years so that the money could be utilised for government’s efforts to fight the pandemic. Each MP can suggest taking up of works to the tune of Rs 5 crore in his/her constituency.
The Delhi government had suspended local area development funds to the MLAs in March. “MLALAD funds have been suspended because of Covid-19 related expenses. There is no proposal to resume payment of funds as of now," Delhi urban development minister Satyendar Jain had informed the Delhi Assembly during a special one-day session held on Monday.
Each Delhi MLA gets Rs 10 crore for taking up projects in his/her constituency.
There are 272 municipal councillors in Delhi, who get Rs 1 crore per year for development works in their wards. The councillors, except those from the South Delhi Municipal Corporation who have been given ₹25 lakh each so far, have not been paid the funds since the start of the financial year.
South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri said, “Two years is a long time. We will have to figure out a way to address the demands of the people of my constituency. For now, I have cancelled plans of building community centres in my area."
Residents, however, say though the government has gradually de-escalated restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 under its Unlock plans, the continued suspension of funds meant for local area development was affecting creation and maintenance of public infrastructure, health and community services.
Saurabh Gandhi, general secretary United Residents of Delhi (URD) — a joint forum of RWAs — said there were many areas such as Model Town, Janakpuri, Azadpur, walled city, Sultanpuri, Mangolpuri, Kirari, among others where pock-marked internal roads, poorly maintained parks, dysfunctional street lights have emerged as a big issue. “These are small scale projects, which are taken up through funds of the area councillor or the MLA. But they have told us that they can’t even get a broken grill repaired. The authorities should come up with a system in which local development works do not suffer due to fund crunch," Gandhi said.
Somnath Bharti, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Malviya Nagar, said he had to turn away a few requests from RWAs to install open gym and swings in parks and to repair a few roads.
“People in my constituency largely understand that these are unprecedented times. There is no dearth of money as such for me because I already have unspent money from last year allotted for different projects. Thankfully, in the last term, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal increased MLALAD funds from Rs 4 crore per annum to Rs 10 crore in 2018," Bharti said.
Vijender Gupta, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Rohini, said he had sent a combined proposal with an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore for different works to the state urban development department.
“The department, however, kept the proposal in abeyance saying no fresh proposals from MLAs will be accepted until further orders. Works such as installation of CCTV cameras to fixing new LED bulbs in street lights have come to a standstill. Worst part is that the government has given no clarity on till when MLALAD funds shall remain suspended," Gupta said.
The Delhi government did not respond when asked for a comment on the matter.
Jai Prakash, mayor North Delhi Municipal Corporation, said so far this year, no fund has been disbursed to councillors as the civic body was going through an acute financial crisis which has only worsened due to pandemic.
“We understand that councillors need funds to carry out development works in their areas, but at present our priority is to give salaries to our employees. Coronavirus outbreak have drastically curtailed our revenue generation. The situation can improve if the Delhi government gives us our due funds worth Rs 1084 crore," Prakash said.
The Delhi government has maintained that it has paid funds to the corporations and owes no dues.
KS Mehra, former municipal commissioner of the unified MCD, said the situation calls for all agencies to ramp up their revenue generation. “The focus should not only be on revenue generation, but ensuring close to 100% revenue collection is even more important. Yet, the coronavirus pandemic is an extraordinary situation. It would be best if the government looks at it from a larger perspective and covers most of these works under state-run projects for now, if, say, disbursing Rs 700 crore for MLALAD funds is not possible at the moment," he said.
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