The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which is aimed at unifying the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi to ensure a robust setup for synergised and strategic planning and optimal utilisation of resources.
The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill, which seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1957, on March 30.
Introducing the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah said it will unify the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation and accused the AAP government in Delhi of meting out “step–motherly” treatment to the three civic bodies for political reasons.
The Home Minister also said the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was done in a hurry in 2012 which led to an imbalance. “I searched the reason for which the municipal body was divided but no reason was available in any file,” he said, adding that the objective was probably known only to the people who had brought it.
It was divided in such a manner that two of them could not even financially sustain themselves, he said. “Even there are inequalities in service conditions of the workers and because of this, there is a deep resentment among them,” said the Minister.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, questioning the timing of the introduction of the Bill, asked: “Why did the Modi–led govt wait till now to unify the MCDs? This Bill is not for unification of the MCDs. This is a Kejriwal–phobia Bill. The Centre stopped the Election Commission from announcing the dates for the civic body polls for Delhi,’’ he said.
Mr. Singh said the Centre has given Delhi only ₹325 crore every year since the AAP came to power. We have given the Centre [in taxes] thousands of crores every year, he said.
Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said the move is “constitutionally suspect, legally untenable, administratively blunderous and politically hypocritical”.
“This Bill is about control and more control by a control freak ‘sarkar’ [government]. It has nothing to do with the plight of Delhi and its hapless citizens. This is a dangerous policy of delaying [polls] through delimitation, which is going to lead to disorder, disorganisation and disaster,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the ruling party which is moving the Bill wants to rampage the municipal corporations with control, chaos and corruption. This would be, of course, challenged.”
Taking a dig at the government, Mr. Singhvi said a year ago the admitted revenue gap of the three municipal corporations was ₹2,200 crore. If improvement of the civic bodies was an object, it should have mentioned how the gap would be bridged. Mr. Singhvi also raised the issue of reduction of the number of seats in the three corporations taken together to 250 from 272.
