Delhi rues paltry Central funding, HC seeks ministry's response

The Delhi government on Wednesday claimed that even after generating over Rs 91,000 in tax revenue, it gets only Rs 325 crore worth of the budgetary allocation from the Centre. The government submitted this response to the Delhi High Court (HC) on the details regarding vector-borne diseases in the Capital, prompting the court to seek the Finance Ministry's stand on the issue.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the Central government Standing Counsel Sanjeev Narula to seek instructions on the issue before the next date of hearing on the PILs to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases, such as dengue, in the national Capital.

When it was told to bear the cost of a public awareness programme to be designed by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) on garbage disposal, the Delhi government said it was bearing all the expenses of paying the municipal corporations and other agencies, while receiving a paltry assistance from the Centre.

It said that while its contribution to the Centre's coffers has increased ten-fold since 2002, what it has been receiving in return since then was only Rs 325 crore. When the court asked the three municipal corporations what they were doing with the money they have received, the MCDs said that under the scheme, they cannot use it till they generate nearly twice that amount on their own.

The court noted that there was a "huge manpower" of cleaning staff — 15,000 in east MCD, 26,000 in north MCD and 23,000 in south MCD — "despite which Delhi was being smothered under garbage and sewage".

The corporations stated that under the scheme, for every Rs 100, Rs 35 per cent comes from the Centre and the Delhi government, and the rest has to be generated by the MCDs. The court has sought to know the Centre's stand on whether these unutilised funds under the Swachh Bharat scheme can be used by the corporations. To achieve this objective, the Bench appointed the DSLSA as the nodal body, to be assisted by the Deputy Commissioners of the three MCDs as well as experts nominated by the Centre and the New Delhi Municipal Council.