Delhi govt seeks Rs 5000 crore aid from Centre to pay salary of employees 

The Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia has written a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in this regard.

He highlighted how the lockdown induced by the COVID 19 pandemic has impacted the country’s economy (and also Delhi) while addressing a digital press conference here on Sunday.

“We have reviewed Delhi Government’s minimum expenses. According to that, we would need around Rs 3,500 crore every month to pay salaries to our employees and to meet other office expenses. The GST collections in the past two months have only been Rs 500 crore, and after combining it with other sources, we have managed to collect Rs 1,735 crore. But we actually need at least Rs 7000 crore,” said Sisodia.

“I have written a letter to the Union Finance Minister in this regard seeking an immediate aid of Rs 5000 crore to help us pay off salaries of the Delhi Govt. employees. Other states have received financial assistance from the Disaster Relief fund, but Delhi Government has not received any such aid yet. Even during usual times, Delhi does not receive any sort of aid from the Centre. But now as Delhi Govts revenue is severely affected due to the COVID 19 induced lockdown, it is about time we received some financial relief from the Centre to be able to pay salaries of our employees- teachers, doctors, engineers, civil defence personnel, and people involved in coronavirus relief work,” he said.