By IANS,
New Delhi : The union government Monday decided to delegate some of its powers over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to the Delhi government and said further powers could be delegated after observing how it worked.
A home ministry statement said the decision was taken after consulting the state government, Lt. Governor Tejendra Khanna and the MCD.
“There have been numerous requests from time to time that the powers of the central government ought to be delegated to the Delhi government,” the statement said.
“After careful consideration, the central government has decided to delegate its powers and many of the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 to the Delhi government,” it added.
The Congress-led city government and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led MCD have always been at loggerheads. While the former accuses the MCD of “inefficiency”, the civic body cites “step-motherly” treatment of the government in fund allocations.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has several times requested the central government to place the MCD under the control of the state government to streamline its functioning and make it accountable to the public.
Delhi Mayor and BJP leader Kanwar Sain expressed surprise at the decision and said: “The civic agency had not been informed about the decision by the government officially. We (MCD) were told that whatever decision has to be taken about our functioning by the government will be done so taking us into confidence.”
“However there were no consultations, no meetings. I did not even know about this decision until a media person told me. This is a murder of democracy. The decision will in no way affect the MCD’s functioning,” Sain told IANS.
“As far as our functioning goes, this decision doesn’t matter much to us. Earlier we were under the lieutenant governor and now his powers are being given to the Delhi government. This will not affect our work,” Sain further said.
The MCD came into existence April 7, 1958, under an act of parliament. It is one of three civic bodies in Delhi, the others being the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi Cantonment Board.
MCD covers a major part of the national capital, while NDMC and the Delhi Cantonment Board supervise a small section of the sprawling city of 16 million people.
The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 gives a number of powers to the central government most of which have been delegated to the Lt governor.
According to the official statement: “In some cases, the power has been delegated subject to the condition that the power may be exercised or the order passed with the previous approval of the central government. However, some powers of the central government will continue to be delegated to the Lt. governor.”
The union home ministry cited recommendations given by committees like Balakrishnan Committee, the Virendra Prakash Committee, the Ashok Pradhan Committee and the Omesh Saigal Committee, and more recently by the second Administrative Reforms Commission chaired by Veerappa Moily for the decision.