The Hindu : Government agencies owe NDMC over Rs. 36 crores

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Government agencies owe NDMC over Rs. 36 crores

By Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6 .Though the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) authorities are hopeful that the recent Delhi High Court order would force defaulting Members of Parliament, present as well as former, to clear their pending power and water dues, they are yet to find a way out to get their bills cleared from various Government departments which owe crores of rupees to the civic body.

Over two- dozen Government departments and agencies owe the NDMC over Rs.36 crores as electricity and water charges accumulated over the years. The Union Minister of State for Home, I.D. Swami, had told the Lok Sabha during the winter session that the top defaulter was the Central Public Works Department with a pending bill worth Rs.13.23 crores followed by Northern Railway (Rs.6.69 crores) and Military Engineering Service (Rs.6.62 crores).

A senior NDMC official said though the Council had the power to disconnect power and water supply to these departments, these were after all government agencies and going in for such a harsh step was a difficult task. Some government departments do occasionally clear their bills, but the pending amount of the most of them keeps accumulating year after year and it was the Council that had to bear the brunt of the delay, he added.

The other departments that owe over Rs.1 crore include the Central Government offices (Rs.1.79 crore), Airport Authority of India (Rs.1.15 crore), Central Provident Fund Organisation (Rs.1.1 crore) and Delhi Police (Rs.1 crore). Similarly, the other defaulting departments include Ministry of Defence (Rs.70.94 lakhs), the Delhi Government (Rs.57.74 lakhs), the Public Works Department (Rs.55.79 lakhs), the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board (Rs.50.40 lakhs), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (Rs.38.58 lakhs), the Department of Posts (Rs.37.78 lakhs), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Rs.35.23 lakhs), State Government Guest Houses (Rs.29.43 lakhs), the Archaeological Survey of India (Rs.28.46 lakhs), the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (Rs.27.37 lakhs) and the Delhi Development Authority (Rs.22.57 lakhs).

The list also includes the Central Government Health Services, the Delhi Fire Service, the Delhi Milk Scheme, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Mother Dairy, Income Tax Department, Delhi Bar Council and various Government schools and hospitals.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi