MCD strike: Kejriwal govt publishes full-page letter, says not responsible for garbage crisis

New Delhi, Oct 30: Arvind Kejriwal led AAP Government has cleared the air about the looming garbage crisis in the wake of ongoing strike of municipal workers in the Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister has written an open letter in a national daily, where it clarified about the whole issue.

Washing his hands off the crisis, AAP Government said that MCD workers are not on strike because of non-payment of dues.

Trying to absolve AAP's role, the letter said, "It is people's misunderstanding that municipal corporation comes under Delhi government. This is utterly wrong".

Kejriwal also rejected claims that the Delhi government owes money to the civic bodies and instead asked the DDA, which comes under the Centre, to release Rs. 1,500 crore as property tax to the MCDs

"The government has already paid the full amount to the corporations. Last year till October Rs. 1859 crore was paid. This year Rs. 2370 crore has been paid which is Rs. 511 crore more than last year", Kejriwal said.

Putting blame on Modi-led BJP government, he further said, "The corporations are to get Rs. 1500 crore from DDA as property tax. Both DDA and the corporations are under the Centre. Our request is that the amount should be released soon."

The Chief Minister has also appealed to the mayors of the three civic bodies to meet the demands of the workers as soon as possible and urged the striking workers to withdraw their agitation "as the people of Delhi are facing a lot of trouble."

The MCD workers are on an indefinite strike since last Friday in the national capital. The sanitation workers have been demanding that they should be given timely salaries.
MCD workers are also protesting for the regularization of those employees who have been working on contract basis for over a decade.

OneIndia news

(With inputs from agency)