Chandigarh Administration sanctions Rs 125-crore second quarter grant to MC

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 20

In a boost to the broke Municipal Corporation in the city, the UT Administration has sanctioned its full second quarter grant-in-aid (GIA) of Rs125 crore. “We will receive the entire Rs125 crore grant in two days. There is no cut imposed in the grant for this quarter and there is no information of any cut even in the grant for the next quarter,” confirmed a senior MC official.

This amount will be mainly used to pay salaries for the months of July, August and September. “There will be nothing left for development works out of this little fund,” said an official concerned.

The civic body spends about Rs45 crore per month on salaries and other unavoidable expenses. It desperately waits for the grant every month as it is left with little money, not enough even for salaries. The corporation had in May received Rs125 crore as the first installment of the GIA and additional Rs2 crore under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The civic body is to receive annual Rs502-crore GIA in four quarters from the Administration. The corporation had passed a Rs670-crore deficit Budget for the fiscal 2021-22 in its anticipation of getting GIA as per the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission recommendations. However, only Rs502 crore has been approved for it.

About six months are left for the five-year term of the ruling BJP to complete, but the party could not get the funds which it had claimed to obtain from the Centre. This had stalled several works like road recarpeting, renovation of community centres, public toilets and others.

Amount to be used to pay salaries

The amount will mainly be used by the MC to pay salaries for the months of July, August and September. “There will be nothing left for development works out of this little fund,” said an official.