Delhi civic body polls to be deferred indefinitely

It is now official that elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be postponed indefinitely.
 

The government on Friday tabled, in the Lok Sabha, the Delhi Municipal Corporation Bill (Amendment) 2022, which, among other things, proposes “appointment of a special officer to discharge functions of the municipality till the first meeting of MCD under the amended Act”.
 

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the reunification of North, East and South Delhi municipal corporations, which means that the unified civic agency will be eligible to get funds directly from the Centre. It will not have to depend on the Delhi government.
 

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Nityanand Rai introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha.
 

The RSP, Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) objected on the grounds that the Bill was against the spirit of constitutional federalism.
 

Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi said, “The Bill seeks to limit the total number of seats to 250. That is illegal as seats must be decided as per population. The appointment of a special officer is also illegal.”
 

Delhi is not a full state and the elected government does not have complete control over corporations. The Centre had control over the corporations after the MCD was created by Parliament in 1957 through the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act. It was led by the municipal commissioner of Delhi, who was appointed by the ministry of home affairs (MHA).
 

Through an amendment in the Act in 2011, the corporation was trifurcated and now the MHA appoints a commissioner to lead each of the three corporations.
 

The 2011 amendment also led to creation of the post of director of local bodies to coordinate the functioning of the three corporations.
 

But now, all that has been reversed as a unified MCD will govern Delhi via the central government.
 

The total number of seats in the unified MCD will be capped at 250, with reserved seats for scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST).
 

Currently, the total number of seats for the three MCDs stands at 272. This means fresh elections could be held after redrawing the municipal constituencies. Also, a process of delimitation could delay the elections further.
 

The amended law also proposes to give more powers to the central government.
 

The Bill states: “In Sections 1, 3A, 5, 6, 32A, 55, 56, 57, 193, 330A and 499, for the word ‘Government’, wherever it occ­u­rs, the words ‘Central Gove­rnment’ shall be substituted.”
 

The word ‘Government’ in the original Bill referred to the state government.
 

The objectives of the Bill, as stated, is to reduce financial stress on the three municipalities and give better services to Delhi residents.
 

“Trifurcation of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi was uneven in terms of territorial divisions and revenue generating potential. As a result, there was a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations compared to their obligations,” the Bill stated.