Delhi Mayor writes to HM Amit Shah, wants MCD chief removed

New Delhi: Delhi Mayor Mahesh Khichi on Friday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to remove Municipal Corporation of Delhi Commissioner Ashwani Kumar for, what he called, “arbitrary decisions” to impose garbage user fee on property tax payers and hike commercial licence fee.

Addressing a joint press conference, Delhi AAP Convenor Saurabh Bharadwaj and Mayor Khichi, an AAP councillor, alleged that the civic agency’s commissioner had unilaterally taken the decisions on the introduction of the two new levies.

“The Mayor was not consulted by the Commissioner on decisions,” said Bharadwaj, alleging that Ashwani Kumar was ignoring the elected regime in the civic agency at the behest of the BJP-led Central Government.

The MCD has raised by 15 per cent the fee paid by trade licence applicants and introduced a compulsory garbage user fee for both residential and commercial properties for waste collection.

Bharadwaj said the Commissioner had failed to implement the people-friendly decisions taken by the elected municipal House, dominated by the AAP, to waive off property tax of property measuring less than 100 square yards and reduce by half the tax on properties between 100-500 square yards.

“The decision taken by the MCD while passing the last Budget to regularise 12,000 contract employees has also not been implemented,” said the former Delhi Minister, alleging that the Commissioner was deliberately sitting over the files related to these decisions.

He alleged that the Commissioner was pushing the BJP’s agenda in the MCD.

Bharadwaj also hit out at Delhi BJP leaders for criticising the imposition of new levies by the MCD but alleged a conspiracy between the BJP and the Commissioner to implement the people-unfriendly decisions.

Mayor Khichi said the Commissioner had ignored the letters he had written to the latter to protest the imposition of the new levies.

“As it is, Delhi residents are overburdened with taxes and now they are imposing additional levies,” he said.

He alleged that ever since the BJP government came to power in Delhi, the citizens have been burdened with new taxes.

Khichi claimed the voters in the city have been cheated by the BJP, which, in place of reducing their cost of living, is imposing additional taxes.

IANS