The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was tabled in Lok Sabha.
What is the MCD Amendment Bill?
- The Bill seeks to amend The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957
- Under the 2011 Act, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was divided into separate North, South, and East Delhi Municipal Corporations.
Key features of the Bill
- The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
- The Bill instead empowers the central government to decide all the matters which were previously being decided by the Delhi Government.
- The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.
- The Bill omits the provision for a Director of Local Bodies.
- The Bill provides that the central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill.
- The Bill adds that obligatory functions of the new Corporation will include establishing an e-governance system for citizen services on anytime-anywhere basis for better, accountable, and transparent administration.
- The Bill seeks to omit the provision that a sweeper employed for doing house scavenging of a building would be required to give a reasonable cause or a 14 day notice before discontinuing his service.
Issues with the Amendment Bill
- New delimitation exercise: Reducing the number of seats means a new delimitation exercise will have to be conducted which would be time taking
- Bureaucratization: Appointing a Special Officer means that until the elections are concluded, the Centre will likely appoint an officer to run the corporation.
- Central hegemony: The other significant change is the replacement of the word “government” with “Central government” which takes away the powers of the Delhi Government.
Source – Indian Express
