Delhi govt announces Rs 1,051 crore for municipal corporations to pay salaries of healthcare staff

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Saturday announced a fund of Rs 1,051 crore for the three municipal corporations here to pay salaries of healthcare workers and other employees amid the ongoing second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in an online briefing, said despite constrained circumstances due to the lockdown, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has taken this decision as those people who are helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic should get their salaries.

Doctors and other employees of the civic bodies are not getting their salaries due to "mismanagement and corruption in MCD (municipal corporations of Delhi)", the Aam Aadmi Party leader alleged.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation, East Delhi Municipal Corporation and North Delhi Municipal Corporation are all BJP-led civic bodies.

"The Delhi government has released Rs 1,051 crore to the three municipal corporations in total so that they can pay salaries of their employees, amid this pandemic...the east corporation is to get Rs 367 crore, north corporation about Rs 432 crore and south corporation Rs 251 crore," he said.

The minister asserted that civic authorities must ensure this fund is used for paying salaries of employees only and not "diverted for other usage".

Delhi on Friday recorded 8,506 Covid-19 cases, the daily count dipping to below the 10,000-mark again after a month, with medical experts attributing the lockdown as the main factor behind the dip amid the second wave of the pandemic.

Chief Minister Kejriwal, on Saturday said that the number of cases recorded in the last 24 hours, has further dipped to about 6,500, with a positivity rate of 11 per cent.