MC withdraws Rs 6 crore from pension fund to pay waterworks bill
The cash-strapped Municipal Corporation (MC) has withdrawn Rs 6 crore from its employees’ pension fund to clear the electricity bills of the Kajauli waterworks. The MC resorted to the withdrawal to avoid a penalty of Rs 11 lakh for delayed payment.
The MC is grappling with mounting liabilities, with salaries of regular and outsourced staff, payments to contractors and electricity bills for February and March still unpaid.
The corporation is dependent on additional grants from the UT Administration to meet its mounting financial obligations. Officials said funds were temporarily diverted and would be replenished once the grant-in-aid arrives next month.
Senior Deputy Mayor Jasbir Singh Bunty objected to the decision of withdrawing the amount from the employees’ pension fund. He said the payment should be the responsibility of the UT Administration, not the MC. “The MC is responsible for maintenance and services, not for such payments of waterworks. The Administration is putting undue financial pressure on the MC,” he said.
Bunty also pointed out that the burden of streetlight bills, previously covered by the Administration, had now been shifted onto the MC, further straining its limited resources.
