The Sindh government has plunged the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the district municipal administrations (DMCs) into financial crisis by not releasing their share of Rs 320 million under the head of Property Tax for the second quarter of financial year 2013-2014.
The Sindh government has yet to release Rs 320m to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation under the head of Property Tax for second quarter share of financial year 2013-2014, thereby compounding financial problems of the KMC and the DMCs. "It has become practice of the Sindh Finance Department that it always made inordinate delay in releasing the funds to the civic bodies, compounding the financial problems of the KMC," official sources told Business Recorder. All the five DMCs of the city have been facing difficulties in making timely payments to contractors and employees owing to inordinate delay in releasing the KMC share under the property tax, they added.
Well-informed sources said that although KMC officials in their meetings with Sindh Finance Secretary had requested him to release the due share of property tax to the KMC but, so far, no concrete steps have been taken in this regard, and as a result of which distract municipal administrations, especially DMC-South and DMC-East have been facing severe financial crisis.
They said that the inordinate delay in releasing the municipal organisations' due share under the Property Tax had not only affected the cleanliness campaigns in the city, but was also a source of unrest among the employees of DMCs. All the five district municipal corporations of the city - DMC-South, DMC-West, DMC-Central, DMC-East and DMC-Malir - are functioning under the administrative control of KMC.
Sources in DMC-South said that district administration has only paid salaries to below grade-5 employees while others would get their salaries after receiving financial assistance from the Sindh government. "It is impossible for employees to continue work without salary", a labour union leader, Zulfiqar Shah, told this correspondent.
He accused Sindh Finance department of adding to financial difficulties of KMC by not releasing its share of Rs 320m under the head property tax. "Pensioners and employees are deprived of pension, commutation, gratuity, leave-encashment, financial assistance, group insurance, over-time and supplementary salaries due to indifferent attitude of Sindh government," he lamented.
Sources said Excise and Taxation department of Sindh government had already recovered Rs 650m under the head of property tax, the share of KMC was not being transferred for 'unexplained reasons'. Sources said that different departments of the DMCs, associated with essential services, are running out of fuel supply, sparking fears that these departments would not be able to continue their operations if they were not provided with fuel supply. Sources in the DMCs said that the petrol pumps supplying fuel to Fire and other departments have stopped their supplies due to non-payment.
They said that bureaucracy was creating hurdles in the release of their salaries on time as the Sindh government officials concerned were least concerned about their plight, besides the KMC officials often failed to pursue the case of workers before Sindh government.