With Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar further postponing the legislation on Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) till the monsoon session, the residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and the local residents have accused the government of acting under pressure from the bureaucracy and the builders’ lobby to delay the constitution of the agency.
Despite a long-pending demand for the setting up of an agency to expedite decision-making at the local level, the Haryana government has been delaying its constitution for the past one year.
Missed deadlines
Having missed the November 1, 2016, and Budget session deadlines, the government was set to take the ordinance route and set up the GMDA by the end of this month.
But Mr. Khattar, during his visit to the city over the weekend to review the progress of various road projects, told the media that the Bill for the constitution of the GMDA would be brought up in the upcoming monsoon session, thus delaying the setting up of the agency for another three to four months.
The delay has not only affected the pace of development work, but also delayed the handing over of the licensed colonies to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for maintenance.
Maintenance of colonies
“Despite directions from the Chief Minister in February last year, none of the licensed colonies have been taken over by the MCG for maintenance so far. The GMDA Bill recommends that a licensed colony can be transferred to the local authority if a significant number of residents make the request,” said Sushant Lok Residents-Joint Action Group, A. K. Nagpaul.
“The residents of the licensed colonies hope that their colonies will be taken over by the MCG after GMDA is constituted. But it seems that the bureaucracy is misleading the political leadership into delaying the process,” Mr. Nagpaul said.
He added that the senior bureaucrats sitting in Chandigarh did not want to lose their control over decision-making process with regards to Gurugram, the financial capital of the State, and were postponing it on one excuse or the other.
Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC) president Ranbir Singh Rathee said that non-payment of External Development Charges (EDC) by the builders, the transfer of licensed colonies and the constitution of GMDA were connected.
“It’s not just the senior bureaucrats that are delaying the process, the builder lobby also seems to be opposing the setting up of the GMDA,” said Mr. Rathee, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Haryana spokesperson.
“The builders will be forced to clear their outstanding EDC dues, which run into several thousand of crores, after the constitution of the GMDA as it will be the main source of its revenue. Also, it will expedite handing over of licensed colonies to the MCG,” Mr. Rathee said.
Mr. Rathee hinted that the struggle for political upmanship within the State BJP could be one of the reasons for the delay.
‘No more delays’
Refuting all allegations, Haryana Public Works Department Minister Rao Narbir told The Hindu that no further delay would be caused and the Bill would be passed next month.
“The Bill for GMDA will be cleared in the Cabinet meeting on April 18. It will then be tabled at a special Assembly session to be convened for GST Bill in the first fortnight of May.”
