Special Focus on Urban Poor, Congress Proposes Urban Poverty Alleviation Department
Leave apart fiscal crunch, will generate additional Rs 5,200 crore annually, without any new tax, says Maken
Special Focus on Urban Poor, Congress Proposes Urban Poverty Alleviation Department
New Delhi, April 17: With a view to safeguarding Delhiites who are sick and tired of the ill-governance and apathetic approach of the incumbent BJP, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), ahead of Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) elections, 2017, here on Monday released its manifesto while promising improvement in the lives of the urban poor.
Congress has pulled up all its resources and plunged in its decades’ long administrative experience while preparing this manifesto, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said and added that leave apart the fiscal crunch, the involvement of likes of former finance minister has resulted in Congress coming out with a concrete roadmap of generating additional annual revenue of Rs 5,200 crore.
In an apparent jibe against the incumbent BJP and attributing the MCD’s perpetual fiscal crunch to the “revenue leakage” at different levels, Maken said that those at the helms of affairs lack “vision” which reflects on the ULB’s exchequer as well. He said the revenue sources of the corporation are yet to be tapped to the optimal level. Maken had earlier dubbed MCD as the “Most Corrupt Department” as well.
Financial self-reliance of the urban local bodies (ULBs), environment issues, superior delivery of healthcare services and education are the thrust areas of the Congress Party’s agenda this time. The party’s manifesto was released by former cabinet minister Ajay Maken.
Poverty Alleviation of the Urban Poor
“Delhi ke nirmaataon ka dhyan rakhegi MCD” (The MCD will take good care of the builders of Delhi (the construction workers), said Maken.
Keeping in line with the same, the Congress Party will establish Shahree Gareebee Unmulan Vibhag (Urban Poverty Alleviation Department)under the auspices of the MCD dedicated to improving the livelihoods and living conditions of the poor involved in the informal sector, Maken said.
Ward-level employment exchange kiosks will be set up to register the unorganized laborers wherein the local residents can approach for availing services of registered construction workers, domestic helps etc. in the local area for a minimum fee, he said adding that this will not only ensure easy availability of jobs to them but also instill the sense of security among those employing them. Jobless workers will be given unemployment allowances as well.
Labor Chowks will be provided with sheds and sanitation facilities, to be run and managed by civil society organizations and security against unemployment for 3 months, through Unemployment Security Fund, will also be extended to the unorganized workforce.
This will be accompanied by a scheme for insurance (health and accident) of the unorganized workforce including sanitary workers, street vendors, construction workers and domestic helps amongst others.
Taking a step in direction of the redressal of the demand of salary disbursement of Safai Karmacharis of the MCD, the former union minister said that their salaries will be disbursed in the first six months of the Congress coming to power in the civic body. Proper kits will be given to the Karmacharis and a provision of employment of next-of-kin on compassionate grounds in case of a fatal accident during the discharge of their duties will be ensured, he said.
Lambasting Delhi CM and Aam Admi Party Convener Arvind Kejriwal for making tall promises but not standing up to the expectations of the voters, Maken said he promised the provision for “Cashless Health Cards” in his Safai Karamchari Sammelan last year but nothing was delivered.
That apart, street venders who were earlier left to the whims and fancies of the ‘Babu-Police’ nexus and was forced to shell out some extra bucks daily for bribing them will be issued proper licenses, Maken said. He added establishment of special Vending zones with toilet and sanitation facilities will bring and additional revenue of Rs 600 crore in the civic body’s kitty.
In its bid to make Delhi ‘slum free’ while not disturbing the day-to-day life of the slum-dwellers, Congress-led MCD will ensure their proper rehabilitation in the same locality. He reiterated former union minister Jairam Ramesh and said that Delhi will be made sanitary landfill-free at the earliest. The sites will then be used for other community-friendly purposes.
Talking about the fate of the illegal colonies, Maken said that a special development fund will be created for the this purpose and the MCD will spend as much as Rs 2,000 crore annually for ensuring dispensaries, parks, cleanliness, etc. in the designated areas.
Stress on financial self-reliance
The BJP, while campaigning for MCD elections in 2012, had made 44 key promises, of which 38 are yet to be started, the Delhi Congress chief said. Failure in the delivery of promises was attributed to lack of funds by the BJP, he added.
Congress, in its bid to ensure timely delivery of the promises made in its manifesto, has prepared a detailed roadmap to steer the civic body away from this perpetual fund crisis, Maken said adding that the entire was prepared under the supervision of former Fin Min P Chidambaram and MP Jyotiradtitya Scindia.
He said the NDMC (the ULB in direct control of Government of India that takes care of posh localities including the Lutyens’) is financially stable and manages its operations through internal resources, he said.
Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) has a fixed deposit of Rs. 51,000 crore and even the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) generates revenue sufficient enough to fund 96% of its functioning on one hand, while the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi do not even have money to pay the poor sanitation workers on the other, he said. We have laid down a detailed road map through which Congress Party will generate an additional revenue of Rs. 5,200 crores through the following:
a) Revenue from unutilized land bank available with MCD (additional 1,500 cr)
- b) Plug in leakages to collect an additional Rs. 1,600 crore annually from Toll Tax from commercial vehicles entering Delhi
- c) Augmenting revenue from parking by restricting Parking Mafia (additional 500 cr)
- d) Outdoor Advertisements (1000 cr)
- e) Issuance of Municipal Bonds (500 cr)
- f) Rs 600 crore annually by Licensing of Street Vendors
It may be mentioned here that the MCD sanitation workers went on strike five times in 2016, demanding their basic salary. Due this fiscal mismanagement of the MCD by the incumbent BJP and consequent strikes by the sanitation workers, the people of Delhi witnessed outbreak of various mosquito-borne diseases coupled with complete breakdown of sanitation, he added.
Environment Conservation
Delhiites together produce over 9,000 Metric Ton of garbage every day. Of this, more than 40% of garbage remains untreated and is dumped in overflowing landfills at Narela-Bawana, Bhalaswa, Okhla and Ghazipur posing, both long-term and immediate, health risks to the local residents, Maken said. Poor waste management has also led to significant disease outbreaks for the last few years, he added.
The problem of waste-management in Delhi is further compounded by its administrative structure wherein multiplicity of agencies across the political spectrum is involved leading to lack of clear demarcation of responsibility and accountability besides the notorious ‘Red Tape’.
The Congress Party has used the vast experience of former union minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, while preparing the road map for environment conservation, he said and added that Congress will ensure closure of all the sanitary landfills across Delhi within a span of 2 years. The existing landfills will also be reclaimed, in full conformance with applicable laws, he said.
Congress-run MCD will strictly adhere to the revised Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and will follow the best-in-class 5-R concept for waste-management: Reduce, Reuse, Recover, Recycle and Remanufacture, in keeping up with best practices.
Each Household will be given blue, green bins for waste segregation and the ownership of these bins will be handed over to children of the households, he said.
Bio-degradable waste will be converted into fertilizers by locally installed compost plants besides establishment of decentralized waste processing and treatment plants on MCD land-pools, said Maken.
Extending healthcare services and education to all
With the motto of “Health for All,” Congress-run MCD will provide primary health services to the entire population of Delhi free of charge, in a safe, respectful and dignified manner.
The Congress Party will constitute a Special Task Force for containing the mosquito menace and will also roll out health insurance for the school goers.
In its bid to reducing the expenses, the Congress Party will transfer all MCD-run hospitals will be transferred to the Delhi Government, thereby reducing the expenses by Rs 652 crore every year and will take ownership of all PHCs currently being operated by the state and central governments, he said adding that all MCD health centers will be upgraded to meet the Primary Urban Health Centre (PUHC) norms of Delhi Government and facilities like laboratory, X-ray, test facilities or curative, preventive and promotive services will be augmented within three months of Congress assuming power.
PHC operating hours will be expanded as per PHC norms and all PHCs, stocked with all essential medicines appropriate for primary health care, will be adequately staffed by qualified physicians, nurses, health workers and technicians, Maken informed media persons.
Speaking on the availability of medicines at reasonable prices, Maken said the MCD will open fair price pharmacies which will stock generic medicines in all MCD-run hospitals and hospitals run by credible NGOs, institutions and co-operative societies.
‘Clinics on wheels’ will be augmented and upgraded and “Diagnostic Centers on Wheels”, will be introduced targeted to provide basic diagnosis facilities, he said and added Health Watch Groups (HWG) will work as eyes and ears of the MCD and will be in constant touch with the Municipal Councilor and Deputy Commissioner of the area who will hold fortnightly meetings with HWGs and dispose of the concerns raised within a week.
Coming to the condition of education services in the national capital, Maken said, “We envision a complete overhaul of the prevalent education system under MCD by introducing major institutional reforms by establishing supervisory bodies to ensure quality education to the students, to train the teachers and to encourage active participation of local communities around the schools.”
Maken vowed to instill confidence of local parents in the operational capabilities of the MCD-run schools and said the party will bring back the 1.30 lakh students who dropped out of the schools during the BJP’s tenure at the office.
Talking about the dearth of teachers, he said teachers in the MCD-run schools are overworked and students are neglected. The Right to Education mandates a Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) of 30:1. However, all MCD schools have a PTR higher than the stipulated one, generally somewhere between 37:1 and 42:1, he added.
As many as 6,500 teacher vacancies will be filled to ensure compliance with the RTE PTR mandate and the distribution of teachers will be equitable across schools, said Maken and added that a committee of education experts will be constituted to review recruitment rules and make amendments, if necessary.
Talking about the new ideas that Congress will implement when in power, he said that pre-school classes will be provided to children before they join Class I and a fixed deposit of Rs 1,000 per girl child will be made at the time of enrolment, which could be en-cashed only after her graduation from high school.
