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 the new arrangement worked.
The move has been welcomed by Delhi MPs as well as the leader of opposition in the MCD.
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,” a 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 government accuses the MCD of “inefficiency”, the civic corporation 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.
Welcoming the move, Delhi Congress chief J.P. Agarwal said: “We have long been demanding that Delhi be given the status of a state and that the civic agency be placed under the Delhi government. So I am happy with this move”.
“This will definitely help in the better functioning of the MCD,” Agarwal told IANS.
Seconding Agarwal’s opinion, Jai Kishan Sharma, leader of opposition in the MCD, said: “Now the Delhi government will be able to exercise more effective control over the civic body, leading to a better administration”.
However, Delhi Mayor and BJP leader Kanwar Sain expressed surprise at the decision. “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,” he said.
“However, there were no consultations, no meetings. I did not even know about this decision until a mediaperson 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 said.
The MCD came into existence April 7, 1958, by an act of parliament. It is one of three civic agencies in Delhi, the others being the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi Cantonment Board.
The MCD covers a major part of the national capital, while the 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 said its decision to delegate more powers to the city government followed recommendations of various committees like Balakrishnan Committee, the Virendra Prakash Committee, the Ashok Pradhan Committee and the Omesh Saigal Committee, and more recently of the second Administrative Reforms Commission chaired by Veerappa Moily.