New Delhi: Union Home Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai Friday introduced the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha. The purpose of the bill is to unify the three municipal corporations of the national capital.
Not many political parties are on the same page as the bill was opposed by Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the Lower House, reported news agency ANI.
"The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022" Bill was introduced in Parliament by Rai after the Union Cabinet Tuesday gave its nod for the unification of three municipal corporations in Delhi
The bill circulated to Lok Sabha members says that the trifurcation of the erstwhile MCD was ‘uneven’ in terms of territorial divisions and revenue generating potential.
The new bill seeks to merge the three municipal corporations of Delhi and fix the number of seats at 250.
In 2011, Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated into three municipal corporations - South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911, reported ANI.
The North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations have a total of 272 seats. The North and South corporations have104 seats each, while the number of seats East corporation is ways less at 64.
According to the bill, over the years, the gap has widened increasing the financial difficulties of the three corporations in Delhi and leaving them incapacitated to make timely payment of salaries and retirement benefits to their employees, thereby leading to frequent strikes by the municipal staffers, affecting the civic services and creating problems of cleanliness and sanitization.