'Serious situation' due to MCD staff strike, LG to Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: As the strike of MCD staff entered its seventh day, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung today voiced concern over the "serious situation" in Delhi and recommended that the AAP government extend "conditional" loans or grants to the civic bodies so they can pay salaries to their employees.

Jung, in his letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, said if the strike by sanitation workers, teachers and doctors of MCDs continued, the law and order situation in the city may deteriorate, sources said.

"The LG has recommended that the AAP government extend conditional loans or grants to municipal corporations so they could pay salaries and other dues being demanded by the striking employees.

"In past too, such steps have been taken by Delhi government and it could do so again in the wake of the crisis," the sources quoted the Governor as saying.

Jung has also asked the Chief Secretary and the Secretary (Urban Development) to find a solution to the problem caused by the strike.

As the strike by municipal corporation employees completed a week today, thousands of agitators today took out a protest march from the Civic Centre to Rajghat here carrying begging bowls in their hands to draw attention to their demands.

The protest march by the municipal workers threw traffic out of gear on outer Ring Road, ITO and other main roads.

Protests by sanitation workers in different parts of East Delhi and North Delhi also created chaos on the roads as garbage was dumped by scores of protesters even as sanitation, education and health services provided by the civic bodies continued to suffer.