Delhi civic body budget: Rs 800 crore allocated for regularisation of 12,000 contractual employees

For the regularisation of 12000 contractual employees Rs 800 crore has been allocated in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD budget to cover their salariesThe MCD special meeting held on Wednesday to finalise the budget for 202425 and the next financial year began in chaos as Aam Aadmi Party AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party BJP councillors stood on tables and chairs shouting slogans against each otherThe House saw the passage of the Revised Budget Estimates for 202425 and the Budget Estimates for 202526 amid uproarSeveral key proposals were rejected while others were passed including the allocation of Rs 800 crore for the regularisation of 12000 contractual employees to cover their salariesFollowing this AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal took to X saying Big news for the 12000 temporary employees of the Delhi Municipal Corporation The Aam Aadmi Party government in the corporation has allocated Rs 800 crore in the budget fulfilling their longpending demand Now all these employees will be regularised something only the Aam Aadmi Party could achieve Congratulations to all the employees and their familiesIn the special MCD House meeting several key proposals were rejected including a Rs 6 crore cut for the maintenance and repair of school buildings and an Rs 18 crore reduction for improving sanitation servicesAdditionally Leader of Opposition Raja Iqbal Singhs proposal to increase the Horticulture Departments budget by Rs 25 lakh for the procurement of benches was rejectedFunds for sanitation and expenses related to controlling stray dogs were similarly rejectedHowever the proposal to decrease the fund for improving sanitation services by Rs 1 lakh was approved along with Raja Iqbal Singhs proposal to allocate funds for womens toilets in public placesAdditionally an increase of Rs 50 lakh to support facilities for Chhath Puja and other festivals was approved by the HouseEach councillor has now been allocated Rs 155 crore for development work an increase from the previous Rs 75 lakh allocated by the commissioner The extra Rs 80 lakh will be drawn from the road maintenance fundsAfter a chaotic start to the House proceedings MCD Mayor Mahesh Kumar and Leader of the House Mukesh Goyal held a press conference confirming the budgets passage despite disruptionsGoyal who presented the budget said that the MCD passed the Revised Budget Estimates for 202425 and the Budget Estimates for 202526 despite disruptions from the BJP councillorsHe criticised the BJP for its obstructionist politics but acknowledged that accepting the cut motion proposed by Leader of Opposition Raja Iqbal SinghThe motion included Rs 1 crore for street lights and highmast lights Rs 50 lakh for Chhath Puja preparations and Rs 25 lakh for womens toilets all of which were approvedMayor Mahesh Kumar accused the BJP of showing extreme disrespect towards him alleging that the oppositions unruly behaviour stemmed from their inability to accept a Dalit mayorThe BJP has not allowed the House to function properly for the past two years Kumar said adding that Wednesdays session saw physical altercations leading to injuries among AAP councillorsMeanwhile Leader of Opposition and former mayor Raja Iqbal Singh called the MCD budget passage unconstitutionalSingh criticised AAP for passing the budget without a head count of councillors He alleged that AAP now in a minority avoided a proper count to push the budget through while the BJPs request for a tally was ignoredRaja Iqbal Singh accused AAP of deliberately stalling House proceedings to prevent discussions on corruptionHe demanded an investigation into Rs 500 crore from the mayors discretionary fund and another Rs 500 crore meant for road construction questioning which contractors benefited from theseHe further slammed AAP for failing to deliver on its ten guarantees to Delhi residents citing unfulfilled promises of regularising employees and improving sanitation Singh condemned the transfer of sanitation funds to the tea and water fund and accused AAP of lacking vision or policy in the budgetThe BJP leader highlighted key wins from their proposed cut motions including Rs 50 lakh for Chhath Puja and other festivals Rs 1 crore for street and highmast lights Rs 50 lakh for park tubewell repairs Rs 2 crore for school renovations Rs 5 crore for retired employee arrears and Rs 25 lakh for womens toilet construction and maintenanceThe MCD revised estimates for 202425 project an income of nearly Rs 14746 crore with expenditure reaching Rs 15767 croreThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever