Amid fiscal mess, no end to salary delays at Chandigarh municipal corporation
Adding to the employees’ hardship, their December 2024 salaries were only received on January 10th, well into the second week of the new year; now, with February already underway, January salaries are also outstanding
The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is grappling with a severe financial crisis, leaving its regular employees with delayed salaries for the second consecutive month. The cash crunch is so acute that the civic body is now anxiously awaiting the last instalment of its annual grant from the UT administration to avert further salary disruptions. This precarious situation also threatens timely payments to the large number of outsourced workers employed by the civic body.
The MC’s financial woes are mounting, with liabilities piling up in the face of an inadequate grant from the UT administration. The corporation employs 9,748 personnel, including 6,965 outsourced workers. While wages for outsourced staff represent the largest monthly expenditure at ₹26 crore, as much as ₹16 crore is earmarked for regular employees’ salaries.
Regular staff salaries, typically disbursed by the end of each month, remain unpaid. Adding to the employees’ hardship, their December 2024 salaries were only received on January 10th, well into the second week of the new year. Now, with February already underway, January salaries are also outstanding, and the prospect of February’s salaries being paid on time looks increasingly bleak.
With empty coffers, the civic body is also anticipating a delay in payments to outsourced staff, typically paid by the 7th of each month.
Development works halted since May 2024
The civic body is also struggling to meet other essential financial obligations, including pensions, water and electricity bills, maintenance work, and fuel costs. Development work in Chandigarh has also come to a standstill since May 2024, with no new tenders being floated.
The MC has formally requested the UT administration to release the remaining grant of ₹33 crore for the current fiscal year. Of the ₹560 crore annual grant, the MC has received ₹527 crore so far, leaving a shortfall to cover February and March expenses. This is particularly concerning, as the MC’s monthly salary expenditure alone totals ₹42 crore.
The financial strain is further compounded by the delay in receiving a revised budget from the Centre for 2024-25. While the UT administration has already received its budget estimates, the MC’s request for ₹200 crore remains pending. Although newly elected mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla claimed that the Centre has approved a special grant of ₹92 crore. the MC has yet to receive these funds.
“We are hopeful of receiving the grant this week,” an MC official said, “but sustaining salary payments beyond this remains a major challenge. Without a special grant, paying February salaries in March will be extremely difficult.”