New Delhi: In a boost to Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit's efforts to split the MCD ahead of municipal
polls in April, the Delhi government on Wednesday received the
Presidential assent to a bill seeking to trifurcate the civic
agency.
Top officials in the government said the next step would
be to issue a notification making the bill an act following
which the process of trifurcation of the MCD will begin.
President Pratibha Patil had given her assent to the bill
last week itself but the government received the file only
today as it was routed through the Home Ministry, they said.
A special session of the Delhi Assembly had passed the
Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill on December one
following which it was sent to the President for her assent.
As per the bill, MCD will be split into North, South and
East Delhi municipal corporations and 50 per cent of total 272
seats will be reserved for women as against current 33 per
cent. While the North and South Delhi bodies will have 104
wards each, the civic body in East Delhi will have 64 wards.
The Home Ministry had cleared the proposal to split the
MCD in November, five months after receiving it from the Delhi
government.
The trifurcation of the MCD is seen as Dikshit's hold
over Delhi Congress as despite stiff opposition from a section
of her own party, the proposal was first endorsed by top
leadership of AICC and then cleared by Home Ministry.
The officials said government will now start the process
of setting up a directorate of municipal services which will
carry out the ground work for splitting the MCD into three
smaller bodies and later coordinate functioning of the three
municipalities.
The Delhi government wants to complete the entire process
of trifurcation as early as possible as notification for
municipal polls is expected to be issued by end of February.
The officials said State Election Commissioner Rakesh
Mehta has also started the process of selecting the wards to
be reserved for women and scheduled caste candidates.
Mehta is expected to finalise the process in a week's
time.
The directorate of municipal services will be controlled
by the Delhi government and it would coordinate functioning of
the three new bodies.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 28, 2011, 23:14