Teesha
On 1st June, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) told the Delhi High Court that it has planned to sell or lease out 37 properties in the upcoming 6-12 months in order to generate more revenue to ensure timely payment of salaries to its employees.
The court on 31st May 2021 warned that it was going to start attachment of NDMC’s properties in order to ensure that the employees are paid their salaries.
While answering the court’s concern NDMC’s Commissioner Sanjay Goel informed the court that Novelty cinema has been leased out for Rs 37 crore and another commercial place at Karampura was leased out for Rs 7 crore recently.
Goel further apprised the court that “By October or November, the procedure of leasing out or outright sale of nine properties will be completed. We are expecting a revenue of 700-800 crores out of them,”
The commissioner also informed the court that for the last one and half year, NDMC witnessed a two months lag in facilitating salaries to the employees which accounts for nearly 660 crores of the shortfall, and the same could be bridged if they are able to generate the revenue of around 700 crores.
However, the division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh asked Goel whether the generation would be sufficient to meet the salaries in the normal times if the process is undertaken, to which Goel confirmed that the authorities would be able to pay the salaries to post the action.
The court further reflected that the authority was not only obligated to pay salaries but also to carry out various other developmental activities and the resources should be adequate for the same.
The matter would be heard on 8th July now, post the submission of a detailed affidavit by NDMC mentioning its properties and accounts with their amounts.
