No sweets, but LED bulbs for NDMC staff this Holi

NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council, which made news in 2014 for giving away sweets worth Rs 94 lakh to its employees on Holi, is distributing LED lights this year.

"Nearly 20,000 LED bulbs have been distributed so far. This is a departure from the past practice of distributing sweets, since LED bulbs would not only bring enduring brightness and happiness in the lives of the employees but also reduce their electricity bills," NDMC spokesperson Jagjivan Bakshi said.

As part of the "Palika Navjyoti Mission", the civic agency had announced the distribution of three LED bulbs to each of its 12,000 employees, a decision in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for conservation of energy.

"The scope of the programme would soon be enhanced to replace the conventional street lights with LED fittings. NDMC is also in the process of fine-tuning the scheme of distributing LED bulbs to all the domestic electricity consumers connected to its grid under the Demand Side Management based Efficient Lighting Programme ( DELP)," Bakshi said.

An RTI application last year had revealed that, the civic body had distributed sweets worth Rs 94 lakh to its staff on the occasion of Holi.

NDMC had later justified the high 'sweet budget' by saying the authorities decided that distribution of sweets on Holi will not be limited to sanitation staff and would include all employees of the civic body.