Ashwani Kumar Appointed As Special Officer, Gyanesh Bharti As Commissioner Of Unified MCD

The appointments will take effect on May 22, the day the three civic bodies are merged, according to the ruling.

Representational Image. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday appointed IAS officers Ashwani Kumar and Gyanesh Bharti as the Special Officer and Commissioner of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) respectively, an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs said. The appointments will come into effect when the three municipal corporations of Delhi will be formally merged on May 22, PTI reported quoting the MHA order.

Ashwani Kumar, a 1992-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, was earlier posted as the chief secretary of Puducherry. Bharti, a 1998-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, is currently the commissioner of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, will take effect on May 22, according to a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 (10 of 2022), the Central Government hereby appoints the 22nd day of May 2022 on which the Municipal Corporation of Delhi shall be constituted,” another notification reads. 

The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 30 and the Rajya Sabha on April 5. On April 18, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his approval.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2011 when Sheila Dikshit was the chief minister of Delhi and the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre.

According to the legislation, the unification of Delhi's municipal corporations will enable synergistic and strategic planning, as well as efficient resource use.

Several opposition parties, including the AAP, had opposed the legislation to reunify the MCDs in Parliament.

According to the legislation, the total number of seats of councillors and the number of seats reserved for the members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities in the corporation shall be as determined by the Centre and in no case be more than 250.

(With PTI Inputs)