Delhi: MCD to allocate Rs 13,500 per acre to RWAs to address gardener shortage in parks

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has revived a scheme to address the shortage of gardeners in the national capital’s parks, officials said on Friday.

Under the scheme, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) across Delhi would get Rs 13,500 per acre to hire a ‘mali’ (gardener) for park maintenance, officials added.

The scheme, based on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, was reintroduced last week by the civic body’s horticulture department. It was originally rolled out before the merger of the North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations in 2022, they added.

“Each municipal corporation had a different policy for financial assistance to RWAs. For instance, the EDMC gave Rs 8,660 per acre, while the NDMC provided Rs 8,000. The SDMC, however, offered Rs 13,500 per acre, which we have adopted,” a senior official said.

He said the MCD will also supply compost to RWAs free of cost, sourced from its green waste management centres. Under the scheme, RWAs will start receiving financial assistance three months after registering, officials said.

“We will make cumulative payments for three months to the RWAs for each acre of land, and a zonal-level monitoring committee would be set up to oversee the work carried out by the RWAs,” said an official.

“After completing three months, we will verify the work through photographs uploaded by the RWAs. Once the supervisor is satisfied, the financial assistance will continue,” she said.

Currently, the civic body maintains 15,320 parks across its 12 zones, covering nearly 5,200 acres.

However, staffing remains a challenge. As per data available till March 2026, 911 gardeners are employed, while 814 have been hired under a welfare measure scheme that offers contractual jobs to family members of deceased gardeners.

In addition, the civic body has outsourced 2,355 gardeners.

According to the horticulture department, maintenance norms are guided by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) manual, which recommends one ‘mali’ for every 1.35 acres.

Residents and ward councillors have repeatedly complained about the deteriorating condition of parks, citing gardeners’ dearth.

“There are 203 parks in our ward. However, there are only eight gardeners to maintain them all. In one park, tall grass has taken over nearly the entire area, with benches almost buried within it,” said an official from Mayur Vihar Phase-I. “How can just a handful of gardeners maintain several parks at the same time?” he questioned.