MC Dips Into Pension Pool To Release Staff Salaries On Holi

Rejecting costly loans, Chandigarh MC decides to utilise employees' pension reserves as staff salary for February is still pending

- Mandeep Kaur Narula

CHANDIGARH: Dropping the plan of taking a loan from government institutes or private banks, the cash-strapped Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on Thursday decided to use a total of ₹50 crore from its employees' pension fund to disburse the pending salaries of its regular and outsourced staff on Holi.

The civic body had been banking on the administration for additional grants to pay off its mounting liabilities estimating ₹200 crore as Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, on February 22, had assured to transfer surplus funds from UT's annual budget for FY 2024-25 to the civic body after the Centre's approval. While Kataria had said that any announcement or allocation of funds will likely be made around March 15, the MC has not got any confirmation as on Thursday, forcing the MC to look for alternative ways to pay its employees.