Bill on MCD unification to be tabled in Parliament today- Read all about it here

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New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah will introduce the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha on Friday (March 25, 2022). 

The Union Cabinet had on Tuesday approved the bill to merge the three municipal corporations of Delhi. The bill is listed for introduction in Lok Sabha on Friday.

The bill said the 2011 trifurcation of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi was "uneven" in terms of territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential.

What is the main objective of trifurcation? 

The main objective of the trifurcation of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi was to create compact municipalities at various centres in Delhi in the interest of providing more efficient civic services to the public.

"However, 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 says.

Over a period, the gap has only widened, increasing the financial difficulties of the three corporations in Delhi, leaving them incapacitated to make timely payment of salaries and retirement benefits to their employees, it notes.

The delay in the payment of salaries and retirement benefits has resulted in frequent strikes by the municipal employees which have not only affected civic services but also created concomitant problems of cleanliness and sanitization, it says.

Such financial constraints on the part of the three municipal corporations result in inordinate delay in the fulfilment of their contractual and statutory obligations and create serious impediments in maintaining civic services in Delhi, it argues.

"The experience of the last ten years shows that the main objective of trifurcation of creating compact municipalities in Delhi to provide more efficient civic services to the public has not been achieved," it says.

What does the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill seek? 

- The bill seeks to unify the three municipal corporations into a single, integrated and well-equipped entity.

- It also seeks to ensure a robust mechanism for synergised and strategic planning and optimal utilisation of resources and bring about greater transparency, improved governance and more efficient delivery of civic service for the people of Delhi. 

What changes will take place? 

- 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 seats each, the East corporation has 64.

- After the introduction of the bill, the number of seats in the merged municipal corporation of Delhi will not exceed 250.

- The bill proposes that the total number of seats of councillors and those reserved for Scheduled Castes members in the merged body will be determined by the Central government through a notification in the official gazette.

- A special officer may be appointed to oversee its function till the first meeting of the body is held under the reunification law, according to a bill on the merger.

(With PTI inputs)