AAP, BJP spar on health workers’ pay

nNEWDELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led municipal corporations on Friday targeted each other over the payment of salaries to health workers and doctors, funds to the civic bodies and the waterlogging problem .

Addressing a press meet, senior AAP leaders on Friday said they would start a protest if the corporations did not clear the salaries of doctors in hospitals under their jurisdiction in three days.

“It is unfortunate that in Delhi, the capital of India, the medical staff in two hospitals under the Bjp-ruled MCD have not received salaries since March. We all talk about respecting doctors, we salute them, and the central government showered flowers from fighter jets to show respect to our Covid warriors. But the BJP cannot pay their salaries,” said AAP’S national spokesperson and Rajendra Nagar MLA Raghav Chadha.

Kalkaji MLA Atishi said, “The AAP govt has already disbursed the required amount to the MCDS but due to BJP’S corruption, the doctors are not getting the salaries...when the audit of North MCD was done, financial irregularities of more than three thousand crores were found. In the South MCD also, financial irregularities of more than Rs 1,250 crore were found.”

Chadha said, “The BJP has no right to disrespect the health workers and Covid warriors of

Delhi…if they do not pay the salaries of the doctors, then AAP will take to the streets for the rights of the health workers.”

In response, the Delhi unit of the BJP said, “People of Delhi very well understand that the municipal corporations are passing through extreme financial crunch for almost the last decade and the crisis has worsened ever since the AAP government came to power in Delhi. Before making allegations against MCDS, Raghav Chadha should ask CM Arvind Kejriwal why his government is giving grants as per the third Delhi Finance Commission’s recommendations at a time when they ought to have got payments as per fifth DFC report.”

In another press meet, the mayors on Friday alleged the

Delhi government departments were to be blamed for the waterlogging crisis. They demanded that funds for this quarter, which has been due to the three civic bodies, be released at the earliest.

North mayor Jai Prakash, South mayor Anamika Mithilesh and East mayor Nirmal Jain said funds “due” to the MCDS must be released so that they can pay their staff. The south mayor said they are exploring all possible revenue generation sources .

East mayor Jain said, “We had met the team of finance minister Satyendra Jain. The file for disbursement of funds has not moved from his table. Of around Rs 1,600 crore funds due under the planned head as well as BTA (basic tax assignment), only Rs 91 crore has been released so far.”