New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requesting him to release Rs 328 crore due funds of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to enable the civic body make timely payment of salaries, Standing Committee Chairperson of the municipality Jogi Ram Jain said on Wednesday.

He added that the move came after corporation leaders met Baijal and the NDMC commissioner wrote to him on the matter.

Also Read | Investigative Journalism Is Unfortunately Vanishing From Media Canvas, Says CJI NV Ramana.

He said the civic body is facing acute financial crisis and is unable to pay salaries of its employees, who recently had gone on a strike over non-payment of dues for past three-four months.

In his letter to Kejriwal, Baijal said that it has been informed that the budget estimates of 2021-22 for North DMC has been reduced by Rs 328.60 crore. Additional financial liability on account of payments of DA (Rs 240 crore) and pending salaries and pensions resulted in the present financial crisis.

Also Read | Omicron Variant A Serious Issue, India Has Taken It Very Seriously, Says Dr Mohan Gupte.

In the letter, he said that the North DMC has requested that an amount of Rs 328 crore deducted as per revised estimates may be released on urgent basis for immediate payment of pending salaries and pensions.

"In view of the above, I will be grateful if the above request of North DMC for release of Rs 328 crore can be considered favourably in larger public interest,” Baijal said in the letter.

Reacting to the issue, the Delhi government in a statement said that it has already transferred all the funds owed to the BJP-ruled three municipal corporations as per its constitutional obligations and not even a single rupee is held back.

"It is the Centre that owes the corporations Rs 12,000 crore. The Centre gives grants to all municipal corporations across the country, based on a formula of Rs 488 per person of the population. However, it is not paying grants to the three MCDs (municipal corporations of Delhi) for the last 17 years,” the government said in the statement.

It further said that thousands of crores of property tax arrears are also pending from various central government agencies.

"The MCDs can pay salaries to its employees by recovering these dues, but they are not doing so to extort and defame the Delhi government,” the statement said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)