After much confusion yesterday surrounding a notice that announced that Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is unable to disburse pension to superannuated employees due to a fund crisis, the mayor Firhad Hakim today said that he has asked the municipal commissioner to ensure all pending pension and salaries are cleared.

To ensure the inflow of revenue into its treasury, the civic body also has waived 50 per cent of the interest amount and 100 per cent of the penalty amount in property tax so defaulters can clear their dues.

To quell the controversy that erupted surrounding the notice which Mr Hakim later claimed as “fake”, the mayor today told the Press that he has specifically asked the municipal commissioner to clear the due amounts relating to pension and salary of employees who have superannuated from September 2021. His comment today comes in the wake of a remark that there are calls being made to the KMC headquarters by retired employees, some of whom have claimed they haven’t received a pension since August 2021.

Mr Hakim said, “It is not true at all that pension amounts are stuck due to any fund crisis but one needs to understand that on several occasions the pension amount gets stuck during processing due to lack of certain details which the beneficiary needs to submit or has made an error in their documents. However, I have personally asked the municipal commissioner to look into the cases where the pension amount is yet to be paid. All impending salaries will also be cleared.”

Among several other initiatives announced by the KMC, of late, in a bid to ensure a quick inflow of revenue into its treasury, Mr Hakim today reiterated that to encourage the property tax defaulters to clear their dues, the civic body has waived 50 per cent of the interest amount and 100 per cent of the penalty amount. This will also reduce the financial burden that may have visited the defaulters in this post-pandemic period. “We are encouraging defaulters to clear their dues and hence have announced this window of opportunity. However, if the dues are still not cleared then ultimately we will have to take action.” Mr Hakim today also inaugurated a new residential complex for rehabilitation of slum dwellers in ward 131 of the KMC.

Meanwhile, the mayor today criticized Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for allegedly acting like a BJP agent and harassing the elected state government on every opportunity. He criticized Dhankhar for not allowing polls to Howrah Municipal Corporation by not signing the HMC amendment bill cleared in the Assembly. Citing examples of a respectable governor, he praised the former Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.