Delhi government sets up panel to audit civic bodies' accounts

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government today appointed a fact-finding committee to audit the accounts of all the three municipal corporations and directed it to submit its report within a week.

The move comes as all the mayors of NDMC, EDMC and SDMC have been demanding release of funds due to them from the government.

Senior IAS officer A Anbarasu, Secretary Revenue-cum-Divisional Commissioner, will head the committee while Additonal Secretary (Urban), Sandeep Kumar Mishra will be its memeber, said an order by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

In his order, Sisodia said the Divisional Commissioner can co-opt any or all district magistrates, additonal magistrates and sub-district magistrates to do the audit.

He said that during the last one year, people of Delhi have undergone several day-to-day difficulties due to various agitations, strikes, demand notices by the staff of civic bodies inlcuding doctors, nurses, teachers, sanitation workers regarding non-payment of salaries and arrears.

"The Government of NCT of Delhi is pleased to appoint a Committee under the Chairmanship of A Anbarasu to inspect and scrutinise the accounts of North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and South Delhi Muncipal Corporation (SDMC)and to report to this government whether municipal corporations are duly performing the obligatory functions mandated under Section 42 of the DMC Act, 1957," Sisodia said in the order.

Sisodia further said that under the provision of section 42 of Delhi Muncipal Corporation (DMC) Act, the muncipal corporations are under obligation to perform certain functions which have not been done so by the corporations as reported by citizens time and again.

Mayors of the three BJP-ruled municipal corporations in Delhi met President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday and sought his intervention for release of funds and implementation of the recommendations of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission by the AAP government.

To take stock of the grant under Plan and Non-Plan heads to be released by the government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently held a meeting with all the three mayors and told them that the AAP dispensation has released almost all its dues under both heads.

In the meeting, government had clarified that 100 per cent of funds have been released to both NDMC and EDMC while 80 per cent of funds have been released to SDMC and the remaining amount will be given to it by January 18.