The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will release a grant of ₹2 crore to the 161-year-old Lala Hardayal Municipal Heritage Library to clear the salary pendency of the staff members, a senior MCD official said on Monday.
This will be the second tranche of funds to be released over the last year to help the library tide over its financial crisis. In November 2023, the civic body released ₹2.26 crore for the library, some of which was directed towards the payment of salaries.
A senior MCD official said the library had originally demanded ₹10.4 crore to pay salaries between November 2021 and May 2023. “The community services department has informed the library that the fund will only be used for pending salaries of the employees and for appointment of a chartered accountant after that,” the official said, asking not to be named.
Sunita Bharadwaj, deputy librarian, said that the staff welcomes the release of funds. “Our salaries are currently pending from November 2022. We have been asked to submit the details of employees for remaining funds,” she added.
On November 15, 2023, HT had reported that Hardayal library — one of Delhi’s oldest public libraries — was in a state of sorry disrepair as it was caught in a political slugfest between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The library had no electricity for around two months due to the non-payment of bills. Apart from this, the library complex’s four toilets do not function and there is no drinking water. At least 95 staffers have not been paid since February 2021, said an official.
In a November 16, 2023, letter to the mayor, the secretary of the library, Preeti requested the release of grants to clear the pending bills. Subsequently, MCD on November 29 administratively approved a grant of ₹2.2 crore to the library.
