New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) Pointing to two resolutions of a Delhi municipal body against the use of legislator's fund for development work, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday told councillors to stop seeing civic bodies as 'Independent Republics'.
The municipal corporations are neither themselves doing any civic amenities-related work, like garbage collection or maintaining the parks, nor they are allowing the MLAs to do that, he said.
"You are not doing any work ... you say you are short of funds. But, at the same time, you don't allow MLAs either to use their funds for development work in parks or elsewhere," Sisodia said here referring to two resolutions of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
The resolutions, Sisodia said, strictly tell the SDMC officials not to utilise MLA funds for putting in place facilities for children to play in the parks or replace the defunct LED bulbs from the street lights.
"I have instructed the directorates of local bodies to ensure that this resolution is not complied with. How is this possible? Are you trying to make an Independent Republic of the SDMC, a state within the state?" Sisodia said.
He said that while earlier all the Delhi legislators, both from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), would utilise MLA funds for development work in their areas, now the municipalities ruled by the BJP and the Congress are stopping them from doing the good work.
"In a park from Jangpura, there were no seats to sit. After an MLA got some seats installed from his fund, the municipality had them uninstalled and thrown away," Sisodia pointed out.
He added that both BJP and Congress should realise that they are harming people and that the money under MLA fund is also the public's money.
