The Committee is formed even as the opposition Congress in the VMC has questioned intentions of the elected wing to give arrears amounting to Rs 20 crore.

Employees associated with various unions had, on Monday, threatened to go on indefinite strike from October 14, if the corporation failed to issue a circular within a week's time declaring payment of arrears.

The first meeting of the committee -- comprising Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Administration) H S Patel, City Engineer B K Desai, Chief Auditor B K Vyas, Chief Accountant Dr Ravikant Joshi and representative of the union -- will be held on Wednesday.

In a statement, Congressmen Chirag Zhaveri, Nandu Pardeshi and I D Patel wondered how had the ruling BJP suddenly realised that developmental works would suffer, if arrears was paid in one installment. They alleged that the party had lost control over the administration in the last four years, resulting in delay in completion of civic works, including those from councillors' quota and budget for administrative wards.

Pointing out that the VMC could generate revenue by selling land and improving the octroi department's network, they questioned that if the financial resources were hard to come by, why was nearly Rs 1 crore paid to the Gas Authority of India Limited for the corporation's failure to lift minimum natural gas as per an agreement. They have also reminded that the octroi department had failed to meet the previous financial year's target and even the VMC was unsuccessful in procurring loan for slum upgradation.