Agitating employees of Parbhani Municipal Corporation
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : Civic services across Parbhani city have been pushed to the brink as more than 600 officers and employees of Parbhani Municipal Corporation (PMC) continue an indefinite strike over pending salaries, now stretching into its 30th day. Employees’ leader Abhijeet Kulkarni said the corporation’s monthly GST compensation grant, currently pegged at Rs 2.7 crore, must be raised to Rs 4 crore. He also demanded immediate release of pending arrears worth Rs 85 crore.
Swapnil Sakpewar, a resident of the Station Road area, said gutters in his area have been completely choked for the last many days due to participation of sanitation workers in the ongoing strike. Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news.
The agitating staff said they had not been paid for four to five months, triggering severe financial distress. Many employees are struggling to pay school fees for their children and medical expenses of elderly parents,” a PMC employee said, requesting anonymity. We faced this nuisance throughout the holy month of Shrawan and cannot bear it anymore during the imminent festival season,” he said. Sumit Gutte, another resident, said he was struggling to get the birth certificate of his son for more than three weeks. We applied for a domicile certificate, but the authorities concerned asked for the birth certificate issued by the municipal corporation,” he said. Those reduced figures were later used as the benchmark for GST compensation, resulting in a permanent revenue shortfall for the civic body,” he said. Though the issue has been raised repeatedly in the state legislature, employees said no concrete relief had materialised so far. Parbhani guardian minister and minister of state for public health Meghna Sakore-Bordikar said she had escalated the matter to CM Devendra Fadnavis . The CM is expected to intervene soon,” she said.
They claimed home and car loan EMIs had bounced, credit card dues had piled up and their Cibil scores had suffered a sharp drop. “Our household budgets have completely collapsed. The prolonged agitation has disrupted several essential civic functions, including sanitation, water supply, tax collection and public health services, leaving residents to bear the brunt of the crisis. “The wastewater and drainage water are flowing on streets in our areas, posing health risks. “My son needs a passport to pursue higher studies abroad. At the heart of PMC’s financial turmoil is a combination of inadequate GST compensation from state govt and weak internal revenue generation. Kulkarni alleged that the formula used to calculate PMC’s GST compensation was fundamentally flawed. “Before GST was implemented, traders in Parbhani had agitated for a reduction in local body tax and octroi rates. Govt accepted the demand, leading to lower tax collections. PMC’s own finances have compounded the problem. Property tax recovery remains poor, while several govt departments themselves are accused of defaulting on dues worth crores of rupees. In addition, an ongoing legal dispute involving municipal commercial complexes has blocked a key revenue stream. “Parbhani and a few other municipal corporations are facing a severe financial crisis. Download the TOI App.