Lok Sabha passes bill to unify three Municipal Corporations of Delhi

• Integrity Education, Delhi
• 31, Mar 2022

Lok Sabha has passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The Bill seeks to further amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 and proposes to unify the three existing Municipal Corporations of Delhi into one Municipal Corporation of Delhi. It envisages bringing about greater transparency, improved governance and more efficient delivery of civic service for the people of Delhi.

At present, the three corporations in Delhi -- North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations -- have a total of 272 seats. While North and South corporations have 104 Wards each, the East corporation has 64 Wards. The Bill was moved by Home Minister Amit Shah in the House. Replying to the discussion on the Bill, the Home Minister countered the opposition allegations saying that this Bill has been brought by following all the constitutional norms.

Mr Shah clarified that as Delhi is Union Territory, Parliament has the right to legislate on the matters related to National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Home Minister said, the unification of three Delhi Municipal Corporations will bring uniformity in decisions. Mr Shah alleged that Delhi government is meeting out step-motherly treatment to three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) and that not all the corporations were equipped with sufficient resources to discharge their responsibilities. He said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is responsible for the civic services of 95 percent of the entire area of the National Capital in which nearly 1.20 lakh employees work in the three corporations.

Many important places like Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, Prime Minister's House, Central Secretariat are located in Delhi. The Home Minister asserted that from the resources, strategic and cooperative point of view, it would be appropriate to have only one municipal corporation taking care of civic services of Delhi. Mr Shah pointed out that there are also amendments in this bill to ensure that the corporation is run with transparency and efficiency, and it also limits the number of councilors from 272 to the maximum of 250. Members from various political parties including from Congress, TMC and Shiv Sena participated in the discussion.

Sources : News on AIR