Sonia, Advani & Smriti on NDMC defaulters list

UTILITY BILLS 300 MPs have defaulted on electricity, water bills; other names include Manmohan Singh, Deve Gowda, Najma Heptullah

NEW DELHI: The names of around 300 MPs have appeared in the list of utility bill defaulters of the New Delhi Municipal Council.

The list has prominent names such as former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers Smriti Irani, Najma Heptullah and Ram Vilas Paswan, among others.

There were others who figures in the council’s list of electricity and water bill defaulters like Jai Narain Prasad Nishad, LK Advani, Digvijay Singh and Jagdish Tytler.

The names were available on the NDMC website along with the arrears amount.

The list that has dues pending up to the December 2014 billing cycle has the names of 166 MPs from the Lok Sabha and 151 MPs from the Rajya Sabha.

Sources from the body said that Nishad, Deve Gowda and Telangana chief minister Chandrashekhar Rao top the list with their outstanding bills running into lakhs.

While Nishad has a pending bill amount of `18.47 lakh, Devegowda and Rao have bill amounts going up to `1.49 lakh and `1.27 lakh, respectively.

Former PM Manmohan Singh also owes `22,934. However, the dues for Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh are as low as `193.68 and `206 respectively.

“NDMC has written to CPWD and housing committees to clear the dues of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs. The utility

NISHAD, DEVE GOWDA AND TELANGANA CM CHANDRASHEKHAR RAO TOP THE LIST WITH OUTSTANDING BILLS RUNNING INTO LAKHS

bills of any person holding a constitutional post is paid by CPWD while the electricity and water bills for MPs’ residences are deducted from their salaries,” a senior NDMC official said.

“We have sent notices earlier too, reminding them about the dues,” he added.

The official did not say on whether the civic body was mulling any action like discontinuing power or water supply against defaulters.

The civic body released a separate list of 859 former Lok Sabha MPs who were yet to clear their dues. The NDMC area houses Union ministers, parliamentarians, and senior bureaucrats. Many top industrialists also stay in the area. Parliament House, the buildings of all the ministries, the Supreme Court, high court and residences of Supreme Court judges, senior bureaucrats and senior military officers are also under the NDMC jurisdiction.