With only Rs 32 crore left in its account, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation found itself in serious financial difficulty. Because of this inadequacy, it is not able to pay its outsourced staff their salaries and contractors.
The crux of the problem lies in the delay of the second-quarter grant-in-aid instalment from the UT Administration, which the MC heavily relies on to function. The Union Budget, responsible for allocating these funds, has yet to be passed by Parliament.
This delay has created a significant gap between the MC’s income and expenditure. The corporation spends roughly Rs 58 crore monthly, while the interim grant received earlier was primarily used for salaries and unavoidable expenses like monsoon preparedness.
The financial strain has impacted various sectors. Outsourced workers haven’t received their June salaries, and contractors responsible for roadwork, paver block installation, and community centre renovations have halted operations due to unpaid bills exceeding Rs 10 crore. Additionally, the MC is unable to float new tenders for projects beyond those with dedicated central funding.
The situation has started a blame game between political parties. BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi criticized the AAP-Congress alliance governing the MC, accusing them of financial mismanagement and exhausting funds within six months. This mismanagement, according to Joshi, has led to stalled projects in his ward.
Meanwhile, Mayor Kuldeep Kumar, from the AAP party, has assured residents that the situation will normalize by July-end with the expected release of funds. He has also directed his criticism towards the BJP-led central government, urging them to expedite the release of grant-in-aid funds through the UT Administration.
With the financial crisis impacting essential services and worker livelihoods, residents of Chandigarh await a swift resolution. The timeliness of the central government’s budgetary approval and the UT Administration’s subsequent release of funds will be crucial in determining how quickly the Chandigarh MC can recover from this financial strain.
