Activists slam govt, BMC over Rs 6,000 crore dues

The state government has been complaining about pending GST compensation from the Centre but it has not cleared the BMCrsquos dues of over Rs 6000 crore said civic activists Moreover it has remained mum on the issue they addedIn a recent report the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG of India stated that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC hasnrsquot received Rs 658371 crore in aid and taxes from the state governmentMajority of the pending amounts are related to Housing Public Health Home Education Revenue and Forest Public Works and UrbanDevelopment departments of the stateCAG reportldquoBMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal issued a letter to the additional chief secretary of the statersquos Finance Department regarding the outstanding amount In response the deputy secretary in October 2021 stated the lsquoBMC needs to inform the concerned department for release of outstanding amountrsquordquo read the CAG report which was recently submitted to the BMCmiddayrsquos calls and messages to Chahal went unansweredA source from the BMC however confirmed about the pending dues from the state governmentIn his budget speech for 202223 Chahal had said the BMC needed a sizable fund for ldquoincreasing liabilities of an ongoing project obligatory dutiesrdquo To address this he had proposed to raise Rs 4998 crore through an internal loanActivists on recoveryCivic activists expressed their displeasure over the distinction in the BMCrsquos actions in collecting pending duesldquoThe BMC took strict action against common people who failed to pay taxes The BMC disconnected their water supply and electricity and in some cases even attached their property But when it comes to recovery of dues from the government authorities the civic authority only sends lettersrdquo said activist Godfrey PimentaldquoWhy does the BMC need to take out a loan to raise funds They should focus on recovery of dues from the state governmentrdquo he addedldquoThe state government keeps complaining about the pending GST dues of about Rs 27000 crore from the Centre But it does the same thing not pay the dues with its local body All these government agencies take lower bodies for granted The local bodies need more power to take action against higher government authoritiesrdquo said Nikhil Desai another activistSamajwadi Party MLA and former BMC group leader Rais Shaikh slammed the Shiv Sena saying ldquoWhenever other parties are in power in the state Shiv Sena raises the issue of dues Now it is their turn They are in power Uddhav Thackeray Sena president is the chief minister Shiv Sena now has a chance to easily pay the dues to the BMCrdquoRs 658371crAmount state govt owes to the BMCBreakup of the BMCrsquos duesAccording to the Comptroller and Auditor General report Rs 558622 core is pending in grantsinaid Rs 98989 crore in property and water taxes and Rs 76 crore in rebate on various cess collected by the BMC for the state until July 2021