Union cabinet approves Bill for unification of all 3 Municipal Corporations of Delhi
Mar 22, 2022
New Delhi [India], March 22 : The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to present a bill for the unification of three municipal corporations in Delhi, "The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022".
The central government will present the bill in the parliament during the ongoing budget session 2022.
Erstwhile, Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated into three municipal corporations including South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) in the year 2011, as per Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911 (Delhi Act, 12 Of 2011).
Earlier, State Election Commissioner SK Srivastava informed that the Centre has deferred the announcement of polling dates for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election after the central government raised a few issues that are yet to be legally examined by the Election Commission.
He also informed that the Centre is planning to "unify" the three civic bodies and hence did not announce the poll schedule.
The trifurcation of the corporation was uneven in terms of the territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential of each corporation. As a result, there was a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations, vis-a-vis their obligations.
The gap has widened over a period of time, increasing the financial difficulties of the three Municipal Corporations, leaving them incapacitated to make timely payment of salaries and retirement benefits to their employees and thereby creating serious impediments in maintaining civic services in Delhi.
