North Delhi Mayor meets CM Arvind Kejriwal; seeks due MRF from Delhi government

NEW DELHI: North Delhi Mayor Ravinder Gupta today met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking release of "Rs 500 crore" of the Municipal Reform Fund ( MRF) due to the cash-strapped NDMC from the Delhi government since 2012.

The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated in 2012 into North, South and East Corporations, and both NDMC and EDMC have been in debt ever since, while SDMC has managed to stay out of the red.

"The Mayor had a conducive talk with the chief minister and requested to either release the entire due amount of the MRF (Municipal Reform Fund) or part of it at first. If not the MRF, he (Mayor) said at least money should be released in loan to the NDMC, especially to pay for the pensions due to various former employees," a senior NDMC official said.

According to the official, "Rs 375 crore of MRF" is due till 2014 since the formation of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), while "Rs 125 crore" of the same is due for the last financial year.

The Mayor is understood to have conveyed to Kejriwal that NDMC was making efforts to generate sources of revenues, and added that Delhi government's help would come in handy at a time when the municipal body is severely cash-strapped.

The AAP dispensation and the three BJP-ruled civic bodies have been at loggerheads over the funds release issue for past few months.